A Lost Soldier
by Magiically
Summary: "How is this possible?" Essie gasped, her crystalline eyes staring down the menacing, unmasked Winter Soldier, as she steaded her two guns. Her mind drifted to a young soldier in the year 1943, a man she loved. She discovered he died when she returned to the year 2015. Tears sprung to her eyes as she spoke,"Bucky, you're alive... And I have to kill you." Bucky/OC. PreCap1, Pre-TWS.
1. Fallen

**This story is just a cute little idea I had. It's going to be a shorter story, because it takes place mainly in 1943 and a little bit in 2014. It takes place after Bucky goes to war, but before Steve becomes Captain America. Hope you enjoy some feeellss, because that is all this story is.**

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It was February, 1943. The battle wasn't named yet, but it would later come to be known as The Battle of Kasserine Pass. It was a series of armed battles fought along the pathway, 2 miles in length, and it was bloody. It was one of the first large-scaled meetings between Nazi Germany and the US army, including the alliance of the Howling Commandos. The small group was amongst other 10,000 men all fighting for justice and freedom. Bucky Barnes was a determined face in the crowd.

He sat over one of the mounds looking out onto the pass. The thick, wet mud seeped into every crack of his uniform, melting into his skin like a second layer and then hardening. His face was covered in dirt, and his eyes were darkened. The armed gun by his side was positioned to his right and his finger was resting ever so gently on the trigger. The fog inside the path was extremely heavy, making it nearly impossible to see a few feet ahead from the US' point of view. They were relying on luck, that the Nazi's would misfire, and that the US could make a general assumption as to where they were lurking behind the opposite ledge of the pass.

"Bastards," Bucky hissed between his teeth, sinking lower behind the mound of dirt. His breath was deep, his heart beat pounding violently within his chest. This was war. This is what it all came down to.

The silence on the Kasserine Pass was too perfect. The stillness in the air, the fog, and the path, was simply too still. Where were the Nazi's? When would they fire?

The thought caused Bucky to shift ever so slightly, resting his left shoulder into the mud and giving his armed side more of a view. The US were positioned behind a wall that bordered the path. Bucky and the other troops peered over a five and a half ledge to the other side, which they couldn't see in the fog. They had to assume Germans were there.

Bucky's bright blue eyes were glazed over as the prominent scent of mud overtook his senses. He glanced over to his team, and each and every one of them held the same position as he. It was all waiting now.

But then, something unlike anything else took place. Something… not of Earth.

In the sky, a bright flash of light appeared. It was quick, like a shooting star. The dark storm clouds above seemed to thunder as the shock appeared, the blue light trickling like lightning. It grabbed the attention of nearly everyone on the Kasserine Pass. A bomb? An airstrike? Do they fire? The US troops received no orders, but only found themselves staring at the spot where the bright blue light had been. Just as it came, it went, as if lighting had suddenly chosen to spark in the air. Everyone was still, awaiting what could've been an instant death.

Bucky let out a breath of air. Nothing. It wasn't a bomb, or anything dangerous. His eyes flickered back to the path. The fog; however, was moving. A black figure now moved slowly in the path. A person. Bucky's brows furrowed. Was it a Nazi? US? He couldn't tell. His position tightened, and his gun pointed at the figure. As it approached, the features seemed more prominent.

It was a female, young. She was limping, and it seemed as if she were clutching every inch of her body. A light blue glow came from weird, etched patterns on a black, skin-tight suit. The blue light she emitted was the same as the spark in the sky only moments ago.

"Hold your fire."

A simply command passed down through the men. Everyone stood still as they watched the figure stand there. If anyone were to jump into the Pass, the Germans would attack. Was this some sort of sick ploy to use a woman as bait?

Bucky frowned, but anger flared up in his eyes. It was still a woman. An odd woman. What was glowing such a brilliant hue along her form? Bucky felt his heart leap as he watched her. The hue instantly died, as if zapped from her body's form, and then the woman collapsed. Her knees buckled, and she fell hard onto the ground, causing the fog to swirl around her. It was as if energy was sucked out of her, and she was unmoving on the ground.

"We can't just leave her there," Bucky spoke lowly to the man next to him, Jim Morita.

Jim shook his head,"We don't have a choice. She could be the enemy."

"The Nazi's might be thinking the same thing," Bucky snapped, feeling his gun tighten.

The Nazi's had every right to think that the woman was American. No one had the upper hand. He couldn't let her go. His eyes washed over the black figure, slowly seeping into the fog's cloud, and he knew she would die. Something told him that he couldn't just let her lay there in the middle of a battle. It wasn't in his nature.

"Bucky!" Jim found himself called after Bucky, who was now mobile.

Bucky flew over the ledge and out into the path, the fog swirling by his rushing figure. The silence was short-lived. Guns from both sides began to fire, whizzing through the thick cloud and hitting into the mud. Bucky jumped, dodged, and maneuvered as best as he could to the girl. He slammed into the mud when she was a few feet away, and began to lift her dead weight. His arms pulled her limp form in tightly, and couldn't help but notice how beaten she was. She was wearing an odd, full black body suit that was dark and muddied.

Her electric blue eyes suddenly flashed open. A bright, wild surge of energy ripped through her black suit, creating the weird patterns that glowed.

"NO!" She cried, and immediately, her body covered Bucky's. In the same moment, a tirade of gunshots were fired at the two from the German line. Each of the shots had landed into the girl's back as she shielded the man beneath her.

Bucky could feel her body shudder as the bullets impacted her back. Bucky's heart was beating wild as the blue light seemed to embrace him. It was warm, the light emitting from her body. It was… alien. Bucky found his eyes shot open, his heart pounding even moreso than it was in the stillness of pre-battle. And he was protected. The one he was supposed to save was… dying for him. He felt her form pound into him as the shots rammed into her backside. Something told him; however, that the blue light and the fact that the girl hadn't fallen over, meant that she was still alive even after 100 or so direct hits from the German side.

The firing died out, and the girl had held her position until the last bullet hit. Bucky heard her gasp for air, and it sounded like pain had just seared through her body. Within the same moment, the blue light faded from her black suit and her form became lifeless again. Bucky sat there frozen, staring in disbelief. His instincts took over immediately; however, once the realization hit that he was still in a war-zone. His body hauled the limp figure over his back, his gun still strapped to him, and climbed back over the US ledge.

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**What do you guys thinkkkk? Who is she :O Let me know what you think is happening. Review! **


	2. The Big Jump

**Here is chapter 2! Things will now get interesting...**

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"This is stupid," Dean spoke aloud. His rested his tired head into his hands, his eyes overlooking what seemed like hundreds upon hundreds of data points. He examined the formula over and over again, and it would work. The bright LED computer interface flickered back and fourth, showing bright charts, circle graphs, and interactive points of interest. Dean rustled his brown hair, clicking on one of the pictures and expanding it. It displayed a picture of Adolf Hitler. Dean swiveled his chair around to see a woman behind him leaning against a counter displaying large scaled weapons.

"It's not stupid. And we can fix it if it goes wrong."

Dean fired back,"This isn't some experiment you're conducting here— it's history."

The woman smiled brightly,"I hated history class, Dean. I was more of the hands on kind of girl."

She was wearing a slim, form fitting noir cat-suit that hugged her every curve. She was young, no more than 30, and had a confident way about her. Her eyes were bright blue, and her skin was rather pale. Her brown hair flowed long and around her shoulders as she walked over to a large, circular structure.

This was Agent S. Agent S was known for various things— a brilliant technician, a human analyzer, a expert fighter, a skilled weaponist, but most importantly, she was known to be one of the most deadly assassins to walk to Earth. She can kill numerous fleets of her enemy in minutes. She did private missions as well—Agent S found Bin Laden, hired by the US government. She previously stopped several attacks on the US homeland before it even hit the CIA headquarters, and she had infiltrated the White House in under 15 minutes for shits and giggles.

She was a privately hired assassin.

SHIELD only uses her when absolutely necessary, because they know putting her in a world of their secrets would lead to problems. She was a lethal force, and in her own time, had developed technology that reached beyond and into the next century.

She was one of several private assassins for hire, such as Black Widow, Hope Lee, Wade Wilson… or even the elusive Winter Soldier. Each and every one of these assassins were known for their skill, but Agent S proved to be quite the force to be reckoned with.

She was an innovator.

The structure she went to had several levers, and was a giant mechanical "O". A platform was in the center of the contraption with wires twisting towards the ceiling. Agent S and her assistant Dean have been working on this beautiful work of art in their below-ground bunker. A time jumper. A structure that would push someone in between time constraints, tearing their cells apart and manipulating them through the stream of space. Agent S began to poke and prod it with a screwdriver, her eyes washing over the wires that poked out of the machine.

"You can't just 'kill Hitler'," Dean spoke lowly, crossing his arms and leaning into his chair. His eyes rested on the woman.

"Why can't I? It'll be interesting to kill some Nazi's."

Dean shook his head,"I don't think they've ever met someone like you. You'd be out of their time with your methods of killing."

Agent S shrugged,"Death is death."

"Shoving your hand through someone's chest and extracting their heart is not okay for 1943," Dean chuckled, swirling around to face the 3-D displays. The algorithm the two had made proved successful for time jumping. They had sent items in the past and received them seconds later, and they knew it was successful. They even did a few animal trials and with no deformities or time-fuck ups. Agent S said it was good to go.

Her first idea stuck with her. She wanted to have fun, and she decided she'd go kill Hitler. Random, but intriguing.

"You don't know what sort of injuries a human might sustain from time travel. You're a lot more massive than a bunny," Dean warned, clicking around on his intel.

Agent S glanced over to him,"And I'm not just any human."

Agent S had a secret. Something that made her not "just human". She, in her early stages of exploring her own mind, had discovered a power source unlike anything else. She was out one night on a hike and happened to come across a large stone. Agent S harvested the stone, because she found it to be the most brilliant hue of electric blue. She had traced it's energy source, and discovered it was the only one of its kind in the solar system.

The stone has abilities unlike anything else. It can manipulate mass, such as making her weapons microscopic and then full scale for the appearance of vulnerability. It made her stronger than any man, faster than any car, smarter than the greatest super computer, and more deadly than anyone alive. Agent S created a technology which fused the stone with her heart and mind, making it a full body energy force. It causes lines to appear on her suit when 'activated', and gives her the abilities to do what no one else can do.

"Essie," Dean spoke, calling her his favorite nickname,"You're a ball of power being torn apart and thrown back together. I don't know how The Stone will react to that sort of travel. You might end up completely dead on the other side without a way to get back. You might even end up in France or something! Who knows what'll happen?"

Essie shrugged, giving a weak smile,"Perhaps. But maybe I'll just reform like goo or…"

"It's a risk," Dean chuckled dismally,"And you're not going to listen to a single thing I say about it."

"Nope."

Essie shut the panel she was working on, putting in the last screw to close to the machine up. She held the screwdriver as she walked over to Dean's location, sitting on the armrest and looking up at the display. Her eyes scanned over the screens,"Just pop me in Germany 1943. I'll find Hitler in like, 5 minutes. Time lock this room, and if anything in the outside world changes, just send me a note and we can fix it."

"You know this whole thing better than I do," Dean sighed, snuggling up into his zip-up black hoodie. Dean was a 24 year old gifted engineer that Essie picked up when she saw his talent fresh out of college. She taught him many things, as he did her. The two had been together for about 3 years now, working constantly and innovating. Dean was the computer nerd, the builder, and even the medic. Dean was often the one to perform surgery on Agent S when she came in with her jaw practically falling off, or her skin was torn away….Dean was her backbone. She couldn't do anything without him by her side— He saved her.

"We activate it tomorrow at 6:30pm," Essie ordered gently, moving off the chair and giving Dean a good pat on the back,"and we are making history."

* * *

Running. All Bucky could do was run. Men of his squadron surrounded him, guarding him, as he held the woman on his back. He moved as quickly as he could, trying his very best to keep up his pace with the added weight. She was going to die. Bucky, moments before the team departed the Kasserine Pass, assessed her injuries. Despite the bullets hitting her back, it seemed like none actually penetrated her skin. Instead, it left a large sized flesh wound that was bleeding profusely and uncontrollably. He patched it up with a large gauze before the transport arrived to remove her from the scene. He knew she had a pulse, but he didn't know if she were about to die on moving her from the battle to the Medical Unit.

The mud made it so hard to run. Each step caused his stance to falter due to the sinkage in the thick ground. Bucky felt his legs burn as they pushed onwards, trying his best to save this girl's life. He didn't know her, or anything about her, but he knew he had to help her. She was defenseless in a world of war and no one deserved that. Nonetheless, he was intrigued by her character.

Ever so slightly, he felt her hand lightly grip his shirt, as if to hang on tighter. Bucky inhaled deeply, feeling the small brush of her fingers run along the outside of his uniform. It was like she was clutching to her life, and she wasn't giving up. Even after taking bullets to her back and protecting him, she still was fighting.

Who was she?

* * *

"2 minutes and 39 seconds," Dean instructed, his eyes running over his computer interface. He was clicking and typing extremely fast, preparing for the time transfer. The count down made it all the more real to push his friend from one place to another, traveling across time and space.

Dean knew there was a great chance she'd be ripped apart completely, or she'd end up in the middle of the Civil War with half a leg and her face melting off. She was massive compared to the bunny they tested a week ago, and she was anatomically of a different nature. Time would have to work doubly as hard to put her back together. Dean's job was simply to hope she made it to the other side in one piece and her brain not completely in shambles.

Essie was pacing around the room, doing anything from push ups to stretching. She didn't know what sort of conditions her body and mind were going to be thrown into, so she had to be prepared for anything. She could be forced into an environment that might not be what the formula calculated. She could end up in the Jurassic for all she knew. Therefore, Essie was fully armed, but one would never guess. Everything was hidden in the suit.

Her blue eyes fell on the timer ticking away on Dean's display. 2 minutes to go. She inhaled deeply, running her fingers through her long thick hair. Dean swiveled out of his chair, moving towards Essie.

"You don't have to go."

"I'm going to make history Dean… I can't just—"

With a saddened gaze, Dean interrupted,"You have a very large chance of not making it out on the other end."

"Isn't that with every mission I go on?" Essie smiled, giving him a light reassuring punch to the arm,"I trust in our work, Dean. I trust I will make it and I will be fully okay."

Dean shoved his hands into his dark washed jeans. A large inhalation of breath filled his lungs as he watched Essie, determined, and ready to take on whatever was thrown at her. She was fearless in the eye of danger, and that often got her hurt more-so than others. Essie's injuries were mainly from over-exertion or from her doing something stupid, but she did get hurt. And she didn't stop even with injury. The concerns were flooding Dean's mind, but he knew she was dead set on time travel.

"If something goes wrong, I'm going to try and bring you back as soon as I can—even if you're seconds away from killing Hitler with one leg and one tooth," Dean weakly smiled.

1 minute.

"Yeah yeah, you can pull me back if something happens," The agent grinned back.

She watched him for a second, analyzing his concern, his heart racing… Her expression dropped for a moment, her blue eyes shinning. She realized for a moment, that all the fun and games meant nothing compared to what he meant to her. She'd do anything for Dean, and he would the same. "Thank you Dean."

"Of course, Essie," Dean easily replied, trying his best to look calm and cool.

Immediately, Essie pulled Dean into an embrace. A long hug that was full of warmth, friendship, and understanding. Dean wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her head into his chest and letting his eyes fall shut. He took in the scent of her hair, the heat that radiated from her body, and the tightness of the hug. Essie frowned deeply, listening to his heartbeat pulse so lightly against her ear, almost as if it were fluttering. She knew this could be the last time she'd see her partner in crime— the one friend she had no matter how dark her past was, how many people she killed, and how she violently murdered.

The lights in the room suddenly went light blue and began to blink in slow, steady pulses. An alarm began to ring throughout the room, signaling to the two that their time was up. 30 seconds hit, and this was the official countdown. The time-jumper began to start up. The whizzing of machinery became apparent, and the room grew to full life as electricity flooded the room to power the jump.

Essie pulled away, giving Dean a long look full of emotion. She didn't need to speak as she stared into his eyes, telling him as many thank you's as she could whisper with a single gaze. Dean nodded his head, accepting her silent word. His hand found itself running it alongside Essie's face, cupping it ever so gently. He found his hand lingering there for just a moment before he dashed away from her and to the computer. The static between them disappeared as quickly as it came.

20 seconds.

Essie was standing in the time jumper, her feet firmly planted on the ground. Within seconds, her blue eyes glowed a powerful electric aqua. It was like energy was flowing through her body like a stream of life. The black suit suddenly was etched with blue lines, forming beautiful patterns that glowed the same as her eye's hue. This was the stone, fueling her and giving her the strength to help protect her form as she jumped through time. Essie breathed in the energy and let it wrap itself around her.

10 seconds.

"No," Essie whispered suddenly, her bright eyes widening. She felt her body begin to displace, her body slowly ripping apart. Her heart raced violently and she just knew it within a moment— something was machine grew louder, and the light blue pulsing lights in the room changed suddenly to red.

Dean was typing extremely fast, and he shot a look back to his friend full of desperation. His screen was red, blinking, and covered in "WARNING" "MALFUNCTION" and "STOP TRANSFER". But it was too late..

Essie found herself choking as air was sucked out of her. She gasped for breath, her body suddenly wracked with seething pain. Her hands gripped the sides of the time jumper to stabilize herself, but her knees were buckling under the pressure pressing down on her. She felt a burning sensation tear up her legs and into her core, slicing through her stomach and ripping through her chest. She was on fire and it felt like her skin was melting off her very bones.

Dean watched in horror as Essie's bright blue energy flashed to a deep red. Her beautiful eyes were the color of blood, the electricity running through her body turned maroon. Her energy, and everything about The Stone was going wrong. Dean could do nothing about it. She was going to die and he couldn't stop it! He saw her scream in agony as tears slid down his cheek. She was as good as dead. But, the sight of her pain was short-lived, for then, a bright flash of light encompass the room.

Essie, was gone.

* * *

"Do you think she's going to be alright?" Bucky breathed, his arms crossed as his eyes shone of worry. He was in a large army tent that was designated as the medical unit. The red plus sign hung on the door to the tent, and Bucky was standing a few yards away from the surgical table. Nothing was formal here, and they basically set up the medical unit wherever they could.

The mysterious woman was motionless with a very weak breath slowly pushing air into her lungs. It was like her body barely had the energy to keep breathing.

Timothy Dugan, aka Dum Dum, stood by his friend, resting a hand on Bucky's shoulder in reassurance. He gave a small squeeze of comfort, responding,"She's made it this far— and who knows where she is from? I've never seen clothes like that before."

Bucky didn't answer. His gaze remained on the woman before him, narrowing. He watched the medics attempted to better gauze and seal the wounds wracking all over her body. Parts of her body suit were removed to give the medics better access to her injuries. One of the on-site doctors suddenly stepped back from the woman, pulling off his gloves and mask. He wiped away a layer of sweat beading on his head, walking over towards the two men.

"You said you found her in the Kasserine Pass?" The doctor questioned, a look of concern flashing across his face.

"Yes."

"And you say she sustained multiple bullets to the back?"

Bucky simply nodded, before hastily adding,"You've asked me this already, doc. How is she doing?"

The doctor frowned deeply, inhaling, and giving the soldier a hard stare. "The wounds she has are not from any sort of bullet. As we remove the black suit, we are finding more and more of these flesh wounds all over her body and not just her back. Blood is pooling all over and it's not from bullets— despite your testimony. It's like someone poured a foreign chemical into her suit that burned off her flesh, Sergeant Barnes. I believe she is in silent pain as we speak, unable to have enough energy to stay awake. She is in critical condition and we can't fight the infections already starting to harvest in those gashes. It's too much, and we don't have the supplies to give to her."

Bucky's jaw tightened, his gaze fully on the still figure.

"Besides, Sergeant Barnes, we truly need to use what little medical supplies we have for American soldiers— not some random…"

"Enough," Tim interrupted, immediately stopping the doctor's short rant,"It shouldn't matter where she is from. We protect all lives of those we can, not just American." Tim gave his friend another tight squeeze to the shoulder. The doctor remained silent, his expression dismal. There was a long pause of silence filling the air.

Bucky's gaze lifted from the girl to the doctor. "I get it. If you can't save her, fine… We can't save everyone. But the moment you start sacrificing your integrity of saving lives is the moment you should take the next flight out of here, doc." Bucky glared at the man coldly, feeling anger seep through him.

The doctor weakly nodded,"Understood, soldier."

What happened next; however, was something no one expected. Suddenly, each of the medics screamed and hit the floor. The still woman was now standing with ragged breath, her eyes glowing, and a silver gun in her hand. Blood dripped down her face, her teeth barred, and she looked extremely dangerous.

Bucky's eyes were widened, and fear momentarily filled his expression. Tim and his hands both raised upwards as a sign of peace as the doctor hit the deck. And where the hell did she get that gun?

The woman's bright eyes faded to a light blue, her face reading wild. "Where am I?" She demanded roughly, her gaze flicking to the standing men. Her gun followed her vision, causing the doctor to flinch. Her body was shaking, as if this was her fight or flight instinct. Her eyes fell in contact with Bucky, but saw nothing of it as she looked to the second soldier.

"Germany, about 15 miles out of the Kasserine Pass," Tim spoke gently, as if to calm her.

"Year," She spoke harshly.

"1943," Tim answered, his lips tight.

"Not bad," she whispered to herself, her expression growing colder. Her eyes began to examine the room, and took notice where in fact she was.

"You're American," She spoke lighter, her gun lowering slightly. Bucky and Tim exchanged a look, before Bucky decided to speak up. He swallowed thickly before announcing carefully,"You're in an American Medic Unit after we found you blindly wandering in the middle of a war zone."

Bucky's words seemed to hit the woman as her expression suddenly changed. Her brows furrowed, as if she were confused. Her gun's aim fell completely, and her lips parted. Her gaze detached from the men, falling to the floor for a long while before she glanced back up to Bucky. She seemed gentler within seconds, but it came with a sort of sadness and fear. She watched him, swallowing thickly,"I think I'm a bit lost."

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**Well? What do you think! Please follow, review, and favorite if you enjoyed it! I love to hear from you guys :D**


	3. Confrontation

**Hello all!**

**Just a random burst of inspiration to push out another chapter for this story :) here you go!**

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"What did you say?" Bucky barely spoke, confusion flecked across his muddied face. His gaze rested on the foreigner, his jaw tight and his body rigid.

The alien woman tilted her head, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth,"I said, I think I'm a bit lost." It was almost like she spoke the words with pleasure, as if she enjoyed their disbelief.

The room was silent. One could hear the slight shifting movement of feet on the muddied floor, and the medics were still curled up in tiny balls. Bucky was unsure of how to… respond. Lost? How do you get lost in the _Kasserine Pass_ in the middle of a war? And, she had… a gun that was unlike anything he's ever seen. It was a silver metallic, with a long sheath and tiny barrel, and looked o_ut of place. _

The figurine laughed in amusement as her bright eyes searched Bucky's distorted expression, "What, cat got your- "

And then, the woman suddenly winced in pain. Her body doubled over, and her palms smashed into the medics table. The table nearly collapsed under the pressure she put on the gurney, and Bucky flinched at the rapid movement. His breath was tight in his chest as he watched the woman with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

She clutched the silver gun in her hand, her teeth baring as she seethed in what seemed like a silent agony. Her blue eyes were tightly sealed, crinkles lining the edges. Her neck's veins protruded out of the milky skin, her breath labored.

Bucky's eyes widened greatly as he exchanged a quick look with his friend. Neither wanted to move. Neither… wanted to approach her. Bucky figured it was those injuries the doctor had spoken about finally taking a toll on her form. How in the world was she still standing with her skin melted off underneath that black suit? How in the world was she… talking, let alone breathing?

The woman's torso then collapsed forward onto the gurney. She her chest rapidly rose and fell, her long brown locks shielding her face as she leaned on the table using her forearms. She focused on herself, trying to quiet the flares that ran along her back, legs, and stomach. It was like gashing wounds openly bleeding, and then reconstructing because of The Stone, and then bleeding again. It was as if her body couldn't chose where it wanted to be in time and space. Silence.

But, a voice still managed to speak through the dead air.

"Who are you?"

"What?" The figure looked up through the spaces in her hair. Her voice was raspy, pained.

Bucky's jaw tightened as he carefully stood,"I asked who you were."

"You got… guts, kid," she dryly replied. She inhaled another deep breath before using her strength to stand again. She propped herself up onto her hands, leaning forward for support. She coldly looked at him right in the eyes. "My name is Agent S."

Bucky licked his dry lips, shifting slightly,"Where are you from, why are you hurt, and where is that gun from?"

Agent S sourly laughed,"You with the questions. At least take me on a date first."

Tim, who had been silently sitting next to Bucky, chose to stand as well. His arms motioned for the medics to leave quickly. As soon as the order came, the medics scurried out of the room. Agent S' eyes watched them as they did, almost snorting at the pathetic attempt for their lives.

"Where are you from?" Bucky repeated.

"America."

Tim scoffed,"Impossible."

"Is it?"

Bucky raised a hand to quiet Tim's sole refute, casting his gaze over to his friend. If they were going to get any information out of this woman, it could not be on hostile terms. Bucky shook his head,"Doesn't matter, Agent S."

The name was thick on his mouth. He hated saying it. It sounded… dark.

"Then tell me, what does matter, Barnes?" Agent S cooly replied, her gaze falling on Bucky's name tag.

"That you're here to do justice for our country."

Agent S glared at Bucky,"Justice? Boy oh boy, if you knew where I came from, we could use more men like you. _Justice._"

Her breathing was still deep, as if she was feigning such a tough attitude. But, even so, Bucky was nervous. She was like a wounded wolf, and while she might appear weak, she was ready to snap at any moment.

"I don't understand," Bucky spoke.

"You can't."

Tim nearly growled as he lurched forward,"Would you stop it with these damn metaphors!"

Agent S licked her lips,"Why would I take away the mystery?"

Tim took another step, and one too close to the foreigner,"Because-"

And then the gun was in the air. Agent S, using the table, lifted the gun up squarely to Tim's forehead. The room's air was thick as she sneered,"Don't insult me."

The medic area stilled again, and Bucky felt his heart race in his chest. This woman was about to kill Tim. Tim did not move, but his eyes were wide with fear. He barely saw her move to her offensive stance. Bucky instinctively took a step forward. He pleaded,"Please put the gun down."

The figurine's gaze never moved from Tim's face,"Please stop pissing me the fuck off. I really don't have the energy for this."

"Please," Bucky spoke again, with a little more force.

He saw her swallow thickly, before something rather odd happened. She brought her weapon down, but swung the gun around her pointer finger. It then, was gone. The gun disappeared out of the thin air as it if had evaporated. Bucky could've sworn he faintly saw a trace of blue lighting appear on her hand and forearm. But the gun simply vanished, like magic. Tim and Bucky watched in disbelief as Agent S once more returned to using the table to stand.

"You guys are funny," She spoke bitterly, her vision shifting to Bucky now.

A smirk pulled across her lips finally. Her gaze rested on Bucky, as if sucking in the sight of him and the small flecks of fear that sprinkled across his expression. However, it didn't last long. Agent S violently gripped the table as another shooting wave of pain tore through her body. She buckled in pain, her nose crinkling and a slight gasp escaped her lips. Tim and Bucky simply stood there, attempting to keep their ground firm.

Agent S cursed under her breath, before weakly looking up to the two men. She watched them silently for a moment, as if judging them,"I'm not going to kill you."

"Well, at least that's out of the way," Tim replied coldly, almost sneering.

But, her next words had them both stunned in disbelief,"I'm going to kill Hitler."

* * *

He messed up. _They_ messed up.

Agent S was dead.

Oh god, she was dead. And there was no way to bring her back. Dean's blue eyes watered ever so slightly, his fingers pulling out his brown locks as he stared up at the monitors. Where did it go wrong? Where did their perfect algorithm go wrong?

It was Essie's program, and she never made a mistake. She was too smart for her own good for this to happen.

Dean bit back on his lip, shaking his head in disbelief as he attempted to fight back the realization that his best friend just committed suicide. His chest heaved, his vision blurred, and his fists suddenly slammed into the keyboard so hard that all the monitors shook in front of him.

"Essie," Dean faintly whispered, clutching his head.

* * *

"Hitler?" Tim spat after a long, pregnant pause sucked the life out of the room. Agent S simply grinned,"Yup. Hitler."

"And how do you plan on _killing Hitler_?" Tim mocked, shaking his head. This woman spoke of tale and lies. Mostly, she was dangerous, like a lion let out of a cage and ready to kill. Anything could trigger her anger, anything. And anyone could die right now in these next moments. But, Tim still wanted to milk her of all the information he could get.

"Well," Agent S spoke,"not in this condition. But eventually, I'll kill him like every other sick bastard I've killed." Her eyes almost grew a shade darker. "I need to… recover from my journey here, and then he's a dead man."

Bucky frowned,"He's the most heavily guarded man in the world."

Agent S snickered,"I wish that meant something to me."

What? Guards weren't a factor to her? Missiles and men and guns? Did that not mean… anything to her?

_The wounds she has are not from any sort of bullet._

The doctor's words rang in his head from earlier.

_Blood is pooling all over and it's not from bullets— despite your testimony._

And then he remembered from the Kasserine Pass.

_Something told him; however, that the blue light and the fact that the girl hadn't fallen over, meant that she was still alive even after 100 or so direct hits from the German side._

Who was this woman? Bucky pursed his lips tightly, his jaw locking in place as he carefully studied the struggling figure. She saved his life in return for him saving hers. She used her body as a human shield back there and she was still alive. And even so, the bullets were not the cause for her current weakness. Was she really that strong? Was she… not human?

She wanted to kill the most deadly man in the world.

"Let us heal you," Bucky said aloud.

"What?" Tim retorted, watching his friend as if he were mad. Bucky's expression hardened.

"Listen, if she says she can kill Hitler, let her fucking kill that bastard and end this war. Then we can go home. None of us can get an eye on him, and despite the fact that we know very little about this woman, even a single shot at him is better than nothing," Bucky explained to Tim. His eyes grew slightly wider as for a moment,"Lets knock down the big bully so no more little guys get hurt."

Agent S could've sworn she saw something cross Bucky's expression that was gone as soon as it came. "I accept."

* * *

Colonel Chester Philips had quite a headache and more paperwork than he could manage. Piles and piles of sheets for the injured, dead, and everything in between. It was more than enough that they had a standoff at the Kasserine Pass, but even then, his troops had come back with a… creature of sorts. Bucky Barnes, a trustworthy soldier, had approached him moments upon returning. He spoke to Colonel Philips and several other officials, explaining the situation, and reporting back what happened after the woman came to the camp site.

Colonel Philips was the one who ordered the figure into immediate care on first arrival, hoping she was a nazi spy that they could torture for information once she woke up. But, it appears that it all had changed, and ironically, it intrigued him. This was an odd occurrence, and many strange things were about to happen very quickly.

The world was about to change.

The Super Soldier plan was going underway, and candidates were being shifted through. They had not found a candidate yet. The formula was perfected by Stark, and everything was set to go. They were going to revolutionize the war.

However, when Bucky claimed that the mysterious woman found took several bullets to the back, and the even newer claim that she materialized a gun out of thin air, he knew she was needed on their side. If they let her go, she might be a threat. She had qualities that… they _desired_. She was… a super soldier. But what kind?

Perhaps she was a nazi spy, and was only to be activated on a certain code word? Maybe she was from the future, or even was an alien. Of course, that was all ridiculous, but Philips couldn't help but be amazed by possibility. He didn't have room for fuck ups in this war, but when he saw Bucky Barnes and heard out his rationale, he simply agreed. It'd make sense to throw someone who is eager and willing into the war, someone who wasn't really 'american', and would give him another body to work with. The entire war was numbers, after all.

* * *

It took 5 hours to bandage Agent S' wounds. Bucky ordered the medics to return to the shack, and Agent S had promised they'd_ probably_ have all 10 fingers when they were done helping her. Bucky shook his head and waited in the room, ensuring that she was to keep her temper and to have a somewhat familiar face nearby incase she decided to go all blue and stuff.

The worst park though was when they began to peel the black suit away from her skin. Bucky's eyes had widened. Pink and puffy flesh wounds covered 75% of her skin. The wounds trailed up to her neck, and some lacerations were on her forehead and cheekbone. Bruises were covering what skin was not gaping open. Some of the gashes were yellowing and browning from infections. Others, were red and fresh, puffed up and swollen. The doctors told her that if they covered her wounds like this, they'd be sealing in the infection because they simply didn't have the supplies to treat her. Agent S told them she just needed to stop bleeding, and that everything else will work out, like she _knew_ she'd be okay.

He sat through her screaming, cursing, and painful biting of the sheets below her on the gurney. Sweat beaded off her head and her skin color was deathly pale. It seemed she was doing everything she could to behave and they cleaned her wounds with rudimentary alcohol and wrapped them. It was all they could do, really.

Bucky rested in a seat nearby, his elbows on his knees. Agent S was bandaged up thoroughly, and in a lot of pain. She was curled up on the table, just trying to keep herself together. She faced away from him, and he could only imagine what she was going through. He watched her carefully as she attempting to stop her shaking.

It was almost pitiful.

Bucky watched the resting woman before him. Questions plagued his mind, and his curiosity grew. Where the hell did she get that hurt? Did she decide to jump into a vat of poison, or did she shove an active grenade into her noir suit? The bleeding was ridiculous, and the wounds were that of which Bucky had never seen. But then she had to have had these injuries before she was found by Bucky in the Kasserine Pass. And if that was the case... how did she make it in there and still manage to sustain bullets?

"How did you do it?" he spoke aloud.

"Mm?"

"The bullets. How did you stop those bullets?"

Agent S slowly flipped her body over, facing the soldier that was sitting in the room with her. He had been there the entire time, and for some reason, his gaze was calming in this world of hatred. But she was confused- he saw it etched on her face.

"Bullets?"

Bucky frowned, shutting his eyes for a moment. He took a beat to himself before his vision flickered back to the woman. "When I found you, you were in the middle of a standoff. I went to grab you, but then you blocked bullets from the enemies line of fire and they _hit _you. You're still alive."

Agent S' features darkened and her face hardened. She gripped the sheets below her, wincing a bit as she lowly answered,"Stop talking."

"So? Does that mean you can't get hurt?"

Agent S didn't respond immediately, taking the time to think.

"I'm hurt now," she stated blankly.

But then she weakly shook her head,"It doesn't matter to learn about me." The soldier cocked his head slightly when Agent S spoke again. Her crystal eyes locked onto Bucky's as she practically growled,"The less you know, the less damage I'll do."

Bucky rain his fingers through his longer locks, chuckling slightly,"Even after we help you, you don't help us, do you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't have to tell you, Barnes," Agent S dismissed,"Before you know it, you'll never have to see me again."

Bucky unconsciously licked his lips one more time, his tired eyes watching the girl. What a character. "Interesting," he mused to himself, rocking back into his chair, clasping his hands on his lap. She really wasn't going to tell him anything.

Perhaps he should just let it go. Perhaps, he should let those bright, electric blue orbs disappear into the recesses of his mind to where he forgets things. Perhaps, just perhaps, he should let this mysterious figure disappear as she said she would.

But for some reason, after hearing her scream in agony despite attempting to be so strong, she didn't seem that foreign. She was tough, even though she was beaten down. She fought to breathe, to stand, to protect. In fact, to Bucky, she even felt… _familiar._

* * *

**Review for meeee :) Love me, okay?**


	4. Recovery

**Hey everyone! Welcome back :)**

**So, I realized I did some things out of order. First off, in the MCU, Bucky isn't apart of the Howling Commandos until AFTER he is experimented on by Hydra and is saved by Captain America. In this story, the Howling Commandos already exist, and Bucky is apart of it. Also, Colonel Philips is on base where Bucky came back to, which is why he is involved. Normally, Philips wouldn't be here... But I love the guy.  
**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"_NO!__" __A feminine voice screamed. _

_Bucky__'__s eyes widened as he felt a woman grip his shoulders. Repeatedly, she pulsated towards him as bullets rammed into her backside in the Kasserine Pass. A cry dryly escaped her throat as she shielded Bucky__'__s body. She cradled him, holding him close to her shaking form and refusing to let go as every bullet pushed at her backside. She was protecting him._

_A warm, soft glow shimmered on her black suit, creating shapes that looked like the insides of a machine. Circles and lines, connecting to one another, growing in aqua-toned brightness in contrast to the noir background._

_Bucky__'__s face was plague with fear as he watched the woman flinch in pain. The gunshots died out, and Bucky could feel himself gasping for air out of fear. He was ambushed. He glanced at the woman before him, only to find her limp body fall down to the ground before him. The blue lights disappeared, gone, just like her life. Blood pooled around her, and her pale cheeks no longer showed any sign of movement. He chest no longer rose, and her body laid their, dead. Bucky__'__s hands fell to her shoulders, shaking her._

"_She__'__s dead?__" __A voice whispered. _

_Bucky gasped,__"__What?__"_

_He glanced up from the woman, only to find someone he never wanted to see in the war. Steve Rogers stood there in front of them in the center of the Kasserine Pass. He wore a buttoned up shirt, slacks, and his beige coat. He wasn__'__t dirtied by war, but his expression was pained. It was so odd seeing such innocence in contrast to the smokey darkness of the Kasserine Pass. Wind whipped around him, blowing his golden hair and jacket. His bright blue eyes watched the scene in horror._

"_You said nothing would happen,__" __Steve grimly spoke,__"__You said you wouldn__'__t kill anyone!__"_

"_No, Steve, she__'__s alive!__" __Bucky pleaded, shaking his head._

_Steven frowned deeply,__"__No, she__'__d been dead. Even when she__'__s alive she__'__s__… __dead.__"_

"_Wh-what are you talking about Steve?__"_

"_Look at her eyes, Bucky. It__'__s all black. There is nothing there.__"_

* * *

Bucky's body jolted awake. A light layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, soaking through his shirt in random places. His chest was tight, constricted, and his mind was reeling from the nightmare. Steve.

The soldier threw his face into his hands, buckling over as he let his nerves slowly die down. A sign escaped Bucky's lips as he used his backhand to wipe away his sweat. He never had a… dream with Steve in it before. Steve was the face he never wanted to haunt him in his dreams.

He tried to remove the kind, gentle thought of Steve away from the blackened, dark world of war. The only time he thought of Steve is when he needed hope, and yet here he was. Bucky groaned a bit, rubbing the palms into his sockets as he re-imagined the pained look of Steve's baby blue hues. Steve— always willing to fight.

Bucky attempted to base his reasoning to fight on Steve's morals. Protect, save… Fight even when no else will because _it__'__s the right thing to do_. You did things to help others, no matter what the cost. You knock the bully down, save the weak, fight for justice. You don't let anyone die. It was why Bucky ran in after Agent S last night in the Kasserine Pass.

Sometimes, Bucky would think about his best friend and how he was doing back at home. He was on his own, and that worried Bucky to no end. The little guy always got into brawls, but no matter what happened, he never backed down. He never let the bullies win, even if it meant a broken rib and a black eye. Bucky also knew that Steve would not stop trying to enlist, even if it was the last thing he'd do.

And it killed Bucky.

It killed Bucky to know that Steve couldn't… fight for himself, despite his spirit. He promised Steve that he would come back the same Bucky, and if he killed someone, he knew he wouldn't be. Bucky had seen death. He saw it raw and uncensored. He also saw back at home weeping mothers and daughters. He knew that what happened here in war also destroyed lives back in the United States.

He couldn't let someone die. Not at least without a real cause. Like Hitler, he deserved to die. But a person for the sake of _winning?_ No, that he wouldn't do.

Bucky let his breathing return to normal. Another sigh escaped his lips as he wearily glanced up to the gurney. His heart sunk deep into his chest.

Of course, Agent S was gone.

* * *

Bucky darted out of the tent, searching for the missing woman. How in the world could she walk? Maybe she was kidnapped? Or perhaps she was never really hurt to begin with and stole something. Sweat brimmed on his forehead as he dashed further away from the tent.

"Ah, Barnes, you're awake," a strong voice spoke.

_Crap._

Bucky whipped around, before saluting his superior. Colonel Philips, one of the highest ranking officers in the army, was walking towards him. Bucky didn't even know Philips would know his name, better yet be right there when he was least expecting it.

Colonel Philips frowned deeply as he approached his subordinate, immediately standing tall once coming to a halt. Philips needed a few words with Bucky. First off, it wasn't often someone from 107th came to reside here. Bucky, as well as his Howling Commando's pack, had stopped off here instead of infiltrating another Hydra unit because of the presence of the woman. Philips did not really know Barnes, with the exception of knowing that he was an excellent marksman.

Philips knew he had a dangerous wager with the woman staying on base, but there was always the chance he'd just put her down and find out what made her so special. It wasn't every day you see a Sergeant from a different infantry running into his office, sweaty, bleeding, and saying a woman fell from the sky and lived after the entire nazi army shot her.

Philips had his own agenda, while Bucky was internally panicking.

Should he tell one of the _commanding officers_ of the US army about the fact that a potentially threatening person had escaped his watch? Bucky sucked in a tight breath when the Colonel directed with an unreadable gaze at him,"Walk with me."

"Yes sir."

_Crap._

The Colonel's hand clasped his other worn appendage behind his back. The two walked in silence for a moment, before the Colonel began,"I'm sure you kept our guest comfortable."

"Yes sir."

"She seemed rather hostile, from what I understand."

"Yes sir… she was very confused when she first regained consciousness."

"Understandable. Have you deemed if she is a threat?"

Bucky inhaled sharply,"I don't believe she is, sir. She claimed she was not going to kill us."

"I see. And you take her word?" The Colonel's eyes burned into Bucky's, his jaw tight and his words smooth.

Bucky nearly choked,"I am alive, sir."

Philips stopped and turned to Bucky, studying the Sergeant's face,"That you are, son. Which is why you're going to do something for me."

"Yes sir?"

"Fine out why she was in such a deadly warzone. If she isn't killing Americans, and wants to kill Nazi's, then she isn't a problem to me."

"Sir, I will get right on it." Bucky bluntly replied, trying his best to hide his nerves as he shifted uncomfortably. Colonel Philips had a hell of a aura, and Bucky nearly felt suffocated.

Colonel Philips pursed his lips,"Do you have a problem with that, Barnes?"

Bucky shook his head meagerly. Philips roared,"Use your words, Sergeant."

"NO SIR." Bucky shouted, correcting himself and standing with posture he lacked before. He felt his palms sweat under his clenched fist and awaited for Philips to speak once more.

Colonel Philips cold eyes stared him down when as he ordered,"I'm not going to have a spy in my camp, if that is what she is. I want her story, Barnes."

"Yes sir," the soldier robotically responded.

"Has she awoken yet today?"

"Uh-" Bucky began, but then, he froze. He heard the sound of a familiar voice.

"I'm awake."

The two men turned to face none other than a walking Agent S. Her pale cheeks had returned to a normal, pink tone. Her brown hair was tied up in a wild bun on top of her head. On her body was a cargo short-sleeved shirt, unbuttoned enough to see the top of her wraps by her breasts. The wraps also were seen coming down her arms, all the way to her wrists. On her bottom was slouchy pants that seemed to run a little bit larger for her smaller frame. Her shoes were cargo boots, like any other soldier. Her eyes were bright, and no makeup plastered her face. She looked almost _innocent._

Bucky noticed that her face scarring and neck, were nearly gone. If not, completely. He could faintly make out discoloration on her neck, but mainly, he saw the white porcelain skin peaking out around. She walked with little to no limp, her hand resting on her stomach.

"Ah, I see you found the clothes we set out for you," Philips said aloud, greeting the woman.

Bucky shook his head in disbelief. There she was, almost as good as new and… _smiling. _

The woman easily replied to the Colonel,"Mine just need some washing. These will do just fine in the meanwhile."

Philips' expression relaxed, nodding his head. His bright eyes, worn with age and war, seemed to glimmer with interest. He then turned to his soldier,"Sergeant Barnes? Show the lady around so she can get her sea legs working again. You feel up for it?"

Bucky stood up straighter, taking in a deep inhalation through his nose as if to prep for his answer. His jaw tightened immediately as he gazed over to the woman. "Yes sir," Bucky responded with as much gusto as he could muster.

"Wonderful," Philips replied easily, giving a nod to the woman,"If you will."

Agent S playfully bowed her head to answer the man before returning her attention to Bucky. A smile trickled across her mouth, and she noticed his expression was anything but happy. In fact, it was stone cold as his eyes watched the Colonel stride away without even a second glance.

"He seems like a asshole," Agent S bluntly spoke aloud, her white teeth flashing with amusement as she moved in front of Bucky. The soldier didn't respond. In fact, he stood still and simply watched her. It clearly wasn't a comment he could respond to. She gazed up at him. He was a bit taller than her, and he was sweating a bit. Nervous? Afraid? Bucky's bright eyes searched hers for a moment, before his expression rested into a frown.

"Why the long face?" Agent S remarked, beginning a stride along the path beside the medical tent. Her hands remained cooly by her hips, resting inside the over-sized cargo pant pockets.

Bucky joined her immediately in pace,"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're pouting."

"I am not," Bucky defended, putting in the least emotion as possible.

"You're upset."

Bucky tried his best to not frown,"No."

"Aggravated?"

"Negative."

Agent S pointed,"Constipated? You know what they say about food here—"

"What are you _talking about?__"_ Bucky snapped, watching the road widen out before him to the basis of the training camp. He could see soldiers performing their morning drills, running back and fourth across several lengths of a field with a captain leading the way.

"And you're being defensive. My god, Barnes," Agent S raised her eyebrows as she chuckled.

"Don't talk to me like you know me," Bucky replied coldly,"I am simply doing my job."

"Like a good soldier," Agent S murmured, crossing her arms. She began to widen the step of her pace, almost exaggerated as her heels scuffed the dirt beneath them.

Bucky immediately paused and turned to face the woman. Agent S stopped, cocking her head in amusement. Bucky's expression was frustrated, concealed(barely), and rather tired. Sweat was beading on his head, and it seemed that he hadn't shaved in a few days. The bags under his eyes showed he was barely sleeping, and the twitch in his shoulder only aided the fact that he was struggling.

His arms came to rest on his hips and he seemed almost angry,"How are you awake right now? You were gushing blood less than 8 hours ago from every point of your body."

Agent S shrugged,"Guess I wasn't that badly hurt."

"Like hell, you were hurt," Bucky hissed, his eyes narrowing,"I carried you back from the Kasserine Pass and I thought you were dead."

The woman rocked onto a hip, before she let a smirk rest on her lips,"Don't get angry, Serg. No use wracking your brain over things you can't understand."

"Why don't you explain then, hm?"

"If I could, I would."

"You come in here, wave a gun around and threaten everyone's well being, and then immediately get first class treatment. Doesn't that seem odd to you?" Bucky plainly spoke, his lack of sleep clearly reading on his face with a mix of anger.

"Not particularly," Agent S responded, her smile fading. Agent S' face grew less cheerful,"They want to see if I'm going to kill you."

"What?" Bucky spat.

"They know I can walk. They know that if I plan on killer Hitler I'm more than capable of killing a man, so you're the lab rat," Agent S challenged, her bright eyes skimming across Bucky's. Her hand raised upwards and without permission, rested on the base of Bucky's neck. She felt him tense under her touch, but she knew he wouldn't move. He was warm, and she felt like ice.

"If I kill you, I'm the enemy. If not, I'm useful to knock a few more nazi's off the radar. If I wanted you dead, Barnes, it would've happened last night when I had the shot. _I don't hesitate._ Makes things… emotional," Agent S explained cooly, before she felt her hand swatted off his neck. Bucky stormed away as he whispered,"You're disgusting."

"If only you knew," she spoke to herself, only then to start tracing behind Bucky.

* * *

Agent S remained silent for the rest of the 'tour'. Bucky found himself explaining in very vague terms the locations of the camp and the functions of it all. Agent S simply nodded or stared at him, giving him a small smile instead of using her words. Bucky bit back his sarcasm, despite wanting to thrown her back into the Kasserine Pass. She was never openly rude, but rather, she was blunt. She didn't hide anything and yet, she hid everything. And now, she was back to being quiet as if to mock him.

As they walked in silence, Bucky began to think. The first thing on his mind was how annoyed he was with her. She was far from the beautiful, conventional woman back at home with windswept curls, cherry lips, round faces and beaming smiles. She didn't talk about the pot pie she made, or the new dress she bought at the downtown store. Agent S, when she did talk, spoke about killing people, what she couldn't say, metaphors, war, and death. It was almost as if the topic of death followed her.

He wondered if she had a husband, or if she killed her husband. Could she actually _love_ someone else? She even said she hated emotional things, so why even make the commitment. He felt back for the sucker that fell for her act.

In fact, Bucky pondered how in the world she was up walking on her feet as if it were just another day. It was far from anything normal and her behavior was just plain _weird_. She was sporadic, almost manic, and yet something about her was sickly sweet. Like she was hiding anything that was true about her and wouldn't talk about why she healed so damn fast. Or the fact that she was _glowing_. Maybe she was an alien? Maybe one of Stark's experiments went wrong and produced some wasted that ended up in her baby food?

Who knew.

"And that, over there, is I'm sure your favorite part, the weaponry lodge," Bucky announced, pointing into the distance to a medium sized building. Men were unloading boxes from several trucks, bringing them inside. One could assume they were of guns.

Bucky glanced back to Agent S, who wasn't even really paying attention. She was looking at everything else but the lodge, and appeared bored. She was scuffing her feet again. Bucky noticed she did this when she was unamused. In fact, the only place she _didn__'__t_ do this was when he pointed out the cafeteria. She stared at it for a fraction of a second longer than anything else, so Bucky warned her to stay put. Within seconds, he had two ham and cheese sandwiches in a bag when came back to Agent S.

Agent S continued to scuff her brown boots on the ground and Bucky lead them to a small clearing besides the camp. It was a tiny plot of open land, but big enough for a few people to come for a gathering. He knew it was risky bringing her away from a public spot, but he also didn't need eyes watching him babysit a potential threat. Here, he could neutralize her without harming others if needed be. Bucky, leading the way, moved to a shady spot by some trees and took a seat, "People often spar here, but for now, this is our spot for lunch."

Bucky let the scarce grass and rough soil rub under his legs as he slowly adjusted to the seat. He leaned back into the coarse tree trunk, and opened the paper bag. He withdrew two sandwiches and glanced up from his seat to find Agent S still standing. She was observing the open area, as if taking a mental note of it, before turning around to Bucky. Her body sat down next to his, and Bucky noticed she did so carefully. It was the only indication she was still hurt.

When she was settled, he handed her the sandwich. "Thanks," Agent S spoke lowly, taking the food from his hands and bringing it into her lap. She stared at it for a long moment, before bringing the food to her lips and taking a hesitate bite.

"It's not gonna poison ya'," Bucky commented, noticing her odd behavior as he munched through his own.

"I know, I'm just thankful."

"Excuse me?" Bucky nearly choked, shaking his head,"I'd hardly think you're the religious type."

Agent S sighed,"No. It's just nice to know I can eat a sandwich." _And that I'm not some form of goo, or dead._

Bucky shifted slightly, giving her a hard look before asking,"Did you expect to die?"

Agent S grinned painfully as her crystal blue eyes locked onto Bucky's,"I always expect to die."

"_Look at her eyes, Bucky. It__'__s all black. There is nothing there.__"_

The soldier's gaze focused on her eyes. They held… nothing. They were blank. She spoke the hymn of death without even a glimmer of anger, or regret. It was as if the concept of death was something she expected. She… lived to died. Her eyes were expressionless even as she chanted her own end, marking it on her arm as someone would their own heart. She had nothing behind those eyes, and if she did, it wasn't about to be shown.

Bucky looked out into the clearing, the sun beaming overhead, and the faint signs of life peaking through the soil. "That's not a way to live."

"I don't call what I do living," Agent S mused, taking another bite into her sandwich.

Bucky frowned,"I pity you then. You're so young, and yet all you see in the world is how bad it is."

"It's a place of bad people, Barnes. No matter where you go, they'll always be there."

"Not always," Bucky spoke, a smile pulling at his cheek,"My friend Steve, back at home, sees the world of bad people and never gives up. The small guy never puts down his fists to the giant."

"Heart of a soldier," Agent S remarked,"never backing down to a fight."

"He doesn't have a choice— both parents a dead. If he stops fighting, he might as well—" Bucky trailed off, taking the last bite to his meal. He noticed Agent S staring at him, her eyes washing over his face.

"I couldn't see him in battle," Bucky admitted, his hands falling on the edge of the brown paper bag and playing with the edges,"Not after all those years of protecting him."

Agent S frowned, bringing her knees into her chest as she took another bite into her mouth. She swallowed thickly, before replying,"Then teach him new tricks so he can protect himself. You won't always be there, if you can't tell that by now."

Bucky felt his shoulders tense,"Steve's got a heart of gold, but I don't know if I have it in me to teach him to _kill.__"_

Agent S remained quiet for a moment. She leaned deeper into her knees and gave them a hug, her hand falling limp with her sandwich. "You should teach your friend how to fight, not to kill"

"Steve Rogers fighting? He knows how to fight, he doesn't know how to win," Bucky chuckled, shaking his head as he brushed a few stray strands of hair away. He didn't notice; however, when the sandwich fell from Agent S' hand to the ground.

"Steve Rogers," Agent S repeated, knowing very well the name. She also knew that they found Steve Rogers in an ice berg, alive, breathing… and very much alive. He 'died' crashing his plane and was frozen for half a century. Steve Rogers was also the experiment of Stark Industries using Gamma Radiation, the same stuff that made the hulk. Steve Rogers was no ordinary man, but then again, time tells everything. And Agent S is living in the age before the timeless Captain America.

"Yeah, the brat," Bucky shifted,"Hey, Agent S? You dropped your sandwich."

"Ah," Agent S murmured, picking it up from the ground,"Wrist still doesn't know how to work and all. And uh— Call me Essie."

Bucky's eyes narrowed, before he spoke,"What?"

"Agent S… Essie… I'm not being an 'Agent' right now, so why the title? Essie is fine," the woman remarked plainly, letting her knees straighten out as she placed the dirty sandwich beside her on the ground.

"Essie," Bucky let the name run on his lips. He watched the image of her, and thought how she just gave him the name to humanize her just a bit more than before. It was a little bit of something, and it was… odd. Why was she giving him a little bit more of herself? Even a name, something more personal than the stoic 'Agent S', was something.

Essie sighed a bit,"Regardless of what you say about your friend, it's the inside that counts. Maybe he'll change the world someday— all he needs is encouragement."

"I never knew girls were psychologists nowadays," Bucky sarcastically remarked, taking her dirty sandwich and putting it inside of the brown paper bag. He then placed it beside him.

Essie snorted,"I need the psychologist."

"Tell me about your feelings?" Bucky coaxed onwards, bringing his hands up to rest behind his head. His shirt melded to his body, the slight wetness of his sweat darkening under his arms from the heat of the day.

The woman instantly turned to face Bucky, excitement filling her dull eyes, but not enough to give them meaning— just enough to show interest. "My feelings? They don't exist."

"How so?"

"If you haven't figured it out, I'm not exactly the stay-at-home mom type," Agent S licked the corner of her lip before she flashed her teeth.

"Right, of course. You and your secrets. Hey, is that was the S is for? Secret?"

"It's for stealth, secrecy, seduction, strength… So many good 's' words," Essie rambled, relaxing into the same position as Bucky. She let her head rest into her hands, exhaling as the tension of the past few hours released. "So, what is it your Infantry focuses on?"

"Our focus?"

"Well, yeah. What are your missions centered around, if you don't mind me asking," Essie pestered, looking at the soldier carefully. She wondered if he would tell her, and at what price it would cost.

The Howling Commandos. They focused on infiltrating Hydra units and destroying them, as well as finding out all they could to help predict the next Nazi movement. "Uh, classified?"

"Classified," Essie repeated, laughing,"won't be for long."

Bucky shook his head, letting his fingers scratch the back of his head as he chuckled,"What are you, a _Secret Agent S?_ Like Secret Agent Secret?"

"That sounds ridiculous," the woman laughed, shaking her head,"No. Look, Barnes, I told you that if I could tell you, I would. There is a reason to my madness."

"Why was I assigned to deal with this madness?" Bucky murmured playfully, turning to face her. He saw her doodling on ground beside her in the dirt. She was drawling circles, connected by lines, and creating other circles within circles. It almost looked like a circuit. Bucky tilted his head,"Hey, those drawings. I saw them on you when I found you."

"Did you?" Agent S responded mindlessly, before brushing her hand over the symbols and erasing them in the dirt. However, Agent S' eyes widened. Her fingers began to grip the soil, digging deeper into it as she watched the ground. Bucky took no notice to this and continued on without a second thought,"Are you a robot or something? Did Stark send you or—"

"The camp," Essie choked, her eyes widening with urgency as she shot a look to Bucky,"There is going to be an attack."

* * *

**A little cliffhanger for you! Get ready to see some butt-kicking coming up next! Please review for me :)**


	5. Battle Cry

**I just brain stormed a bit more for this story. I'm predicting its going to be about 17-18 chapters long. Just so everyone knows, it WILL go pre-Winter Soldier and then post-Winter Soldier soon.**

**Also, apologizes for the horrible German accent I write in here for Rauff, but I hope you can understand!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She was rather enjoying her time with Bucky Barnes, relaxing, and finding out his best friend is Captain America before he was juiced with gamma radiation. Bucky didn't say much about himself, but he did show that he was kind and compassionate. It was the kind of compassion she often thought of when she thought of Dean. Dean, who looked after her, tended to her wounds, saved her, and gave her intel from afar.

Dean was her guardian angel, and now, she couldn't imagine what he was going through. He probably thought she was dead. What would he do? She took him out of his prime to find a real job. Maybe he'd work for the CIA? Do something with his knowledge? Revolutionize the world against alien tech?

She took a kid out into the dirty world of her own, and then left him. He was alone.

Lost in thought, Essie found herself mindlessly drawing the markings of the stone onto the floor. They were etched onto her suit when she let her body give into the power, making her stronger, faster… When they glowed, her abilities were twice as prominent and she was even more lethal than before.

It made her lose control, and often resulted in her nearly dying. Dean was always there to pick up the pieces. She used her abilities with the price of her life. Perhaps she was slowly dying from the use, but regardless, she was able to do what needed to be done.

Essie hesitated. The ground seemed to tremble under her fingertips. She felt through the soil the movement of the Earth, the shift of the grass as tanks plowed through the land not too far away. She knew it was the enemy. She just _knew_. Agent S had this way of predicting the enemy's next move— whether it was because she thought like the enemy or because she was not your average soldier.

"The camp," Essie choked, her eyes widening with urgency as she shot a look to Bucky,"There is going to be an attack."

"What?" Bucky replied, his brows furrowing in confusion. It was as if the concept didn't fully register to him, but Agent S knew.

Agent S' jaw locked,"I felt it. Through the ground. They'll be here any second. We have to move."

Bucky was filled with questions, but clearly, without time to have them answered. He shot upwards, as did the woman, and the two began to dash forward across the clearing and towards the edge of the base just as the sound of a gun went off. And then, there were many shots fired.

"Wait," Essie said aloud, stopping along the edge of a tent with Bucky in tow. They were on the edge of the base, and surveying the scene. She peaked around the edge and saw that she was too late.

Allied men were being lined up and hoarded by Nazi troops, rolling in via tanks and cars. The troops were screaming, trying to fight back, but were held at point blank by the enemy. A man in full black uniform, a high ranked officer, walked out of one of the cars and to the crowd. On his arm was a red band, bearing the swastik sign. His suit was highly decorated in medals and golden emblems, all symbolizing his affiliation. The allied troops went silent as he approached, staring at the man in disbelief as they settled on the ground in a large clump.

"Vhere iz your lead-ah?" He said aloud, his german accent thick in his throat and echoing through the air,"I believe-z Colonel Philips iz here, iz he not?"

The men stared with no answer, but disgust read on their expressions.

Essie glanced behind her to Bucky,"See those tanks over there at my 3? I'm going to knock those out. When that happens, I think you guys will know what to do."

"Grab guns and fire," Bucky responded with a sense of urgency. He wasn't even going to ask how she was planning on taking down the tanks, but for some reason, he knew she could do it. But his mind was buzzing. He just hoped his instinct would kick in when the time was right.

Agent S grinned,"You got it. Wait here… you'll know when to go." And just like that, she slipped in between a tent behind them and disappeared as quiet as a mouse.

Bucky inhaled deeply, squeezing his eyes shut. God, this was really bad. Nazi's at an Allied base camp? A secret agent-alien of sorts as their only hope? This was just… crap.

The soldier scooted forward carefully, his back skimming the edge of the tent just as Essie's was moments before, as he peaked out from behind to watch for his signal.

* * *

"Iz zis not ze Americans?" The German man said aloud, his arms clasped behind his back firmly as he paced. More and more men of all nations(British, French, American) were added to the pile one by one by Germans, creating a large group he was preaching towards. They all watched him with the same face of hatred, but none of them would attack with the tanks behind him. 4 tanks, bulletproof, idiot-proof, and here simply to scare them. Colonel Walter Ruff of the German SS army was not here to play around, after all.

He wanted Philips— the bastard. That man was a pain in the ass and Rauff wanted his head. He wanted to take him down and make the American's scared, but clearly, they didn't want to cooperate.

"Oh, I should 'ave know. All you-z are stupid," Rauff sneered, his emerald hues narrowing.

"_YOUR ACCENT'S STUPID."_

The voice was somewhere in the crowd, and Rauff couldn't pinpoint as to where it was coming from. But, it made him chuckle lowly.

"Ah, zis iz very inter-vesting. You-z all are very loyal to your lead-ah, and yet he vill let you die? Vhat kind of lead-ah iz zhat? Hm?" Rauff probed, his strong jaw tightening as he saw none of them would budge. Rauff continued to pace.

"Oh Colonel Philips! Hello from zeh Nazi's!" Rauff said aloud, raising his hand to his mouth and giving a shout,"Vill you come out and play?"

The wind rustled in the neighboring tree, and no one moved to reveal the location of Colonel Philips. In fact, everyone became that much stiller. Walter Rauff frowned greatly, before a gunshot was fired. A man in the front row, and american soldier, fell down dead by Rauff's gun. The body crumpled forward, and blood seeped out of the wound and into the soil. The men around the now deceased soldier shook in fear, but wore faces of pride for their fallen man.

Walter Rauff smirked darkly, searching the crowd of shocked faces and shaken up humans. He flashed his teeth, chuckling,"For each minutez zhat goes by vithout Colonel Philip's surrender, I vill kill another rat of zeh Allies."

"_YOUR SCUM!"_

"V-urds v-urds and threats, never mean any-zing to me if zhey are empty," Rauff preached, lifting his chin up higher. Words and threats… What a pity. What a pathetic lot the Americans rounded up to defend their nation. They sat their with their big eyes and loud mouths without any power.

Rauff sighed, pressing his lips together into a smile as he raised his gun again,"Shall ve try numb-ah two?"

However, just as Rauff placed his gun on the next soldier's head, an explosion went off. Rauff turned around behind him to see one of Germany's indestructible tanks ablaze. Parts of it rocked into the sky, and the entire thing burst upwards. The metal exploded outwards, and the trunk of the tank detached onto the ground. The tank itself rocked onto its side and the tracker wheels were frozen as the center blazed.

Rauff's mouth went dry as the fire's reflection shimmered in his eyes,"Impozzible."

The entire machine was sparking into flames, and he could barely see a blur run out from one tank and to the next. A figure had jumped extremely high and swung upwards, using the trunk of the tank as a middle ground, and onto the roof. With unreal strength, the same figure tore off the metal top to the tank and jumped inside. Screams were heard, and then, that tank then too, exploded into shards as did its predecessor.

The Americans, French, and British were standing up in disbelief, their eyes widened by the act and shock reading along their faces. However, nothing rallied them more than Bucky Barnes, appearing out of virtually nowhere and screaming the battle cry,"GET THEM!"

Within seconds, Rauff was running. The Allies began to push back. The fight began, and man went after man. Fist and fist. Leg with punch. Everyone began to push back regardless of they didn't have their firearms. Some men immediately ran to the armory and grabbed everything they could. Those same men armed as many soldiers as possible before returning to the armory again and repeating the same act.

The entire squadron was battling. Not a single man wasn't bleeding in some way, or fighting someone, or defending their honor. Bucky was fighting hand to hand, before miraculously stealing a gun off a deceased german and using that to help protect himself.

There was so much fire, screaming, and blood everywhere. Bodies were dropping, German and American alike. Smoke was raising and blackening the air, making it harder to see. However, through the cloud, Bucky saw it. Bucky saw her.

* * *

She was violent… More violent than with anything he's ever seen. Blood splattered across her face, soaking her in a ruby war paint. Her hair was fallen down her back, but soaked in the maroon liquid of her fight. She had removed the oversized shirt that was lent to her, leaving only the slightly baggy pants and the white wraps that secured her like a corset. The bandages too, were red, but Bucky doubted it was her blood. The only weapon she had was a single knife. It was with that blade that she slit throat after throat, wiping around herself like nothing he's ever seen.

She cart-wheeled into a man, kicking his gun out of his grip and when she returned to stand, stabbing him deeply at the base up to his neck. She carved the line deep downwards through his flesh and into his belly. Instantly, she grabbed the dying german's arm, and flung the body in front of her with unreal strength, and used it as a body shield for the next german attacker.

Within seconds, she slid down onto her knees, flipped upwards, and caught the attacking German with her thighs. Using her strength, she wrapped his head with legs and brought him downwards before snapping his neck.

It seemed so effortless as she twisted and turned, killing one man after the next with such skill and accuracy. Her knife work was unreal, and the way she moved was the skill of something Bucky has never seen before. She flipped the blade and caught it with ease, ducking and slamming the tip deep into German throats, eyes, roof's of mouths… In the clouds, he watched in disbelief as she moved. But what struck him even moreso, was when a German ran straight for her and all Essie did was ram her hand right through the man's chest.

Bucky froze.

All he could see was the red blood seeping down Essie's hand, pushed through the ribcage of the German and through the other side of his body. The 200-lb man was off his feet, dangling on Agent S' arm, and dead. She was strong enough to lift him with ease before she shook the body off her. And then, she saw him. Bucky could see more now through the clouds, and he saw Agent S staring at him with blank eyes as the german body collapsed onto the ground. It was as if time stopped for that moment as they saw one another.

"_Look at her eyes, Bucky. It's all black. There is nothing there."_

The noise seemed to disappear from the fight, and the air grew that much thicker. The laughter, smile, and bright eyes of Essie vanished. This was Agent S. This was a murderer, and what she was doing wasn't human.

That strength, that cruelty. There was nothing in there that showed sympathy or restraint. She killed like a machine. She fought guns with her fists and a knife and won. She gauged out eyes, ripped open bodies with intestines pulsating out of the slice, tore off jaws, and moved through the human flesh as if she did it instead of breathing.

Bucky couldn't tell how many she killed. He could see the Germans thrown about on the ground, bloody and deceased. With just a glance, he saw numerous men piled around her and Bucky knew she wasn't satiated.

In the next second, she was balancing on her hands and kicking two Germans coming from either side with both her legs. The two fell backwards, and one of their legs was caught by Agent S as she flipped upwards. She hauled him into the sky and down onto his comrade, knocking them both unconscious.

Bucky thought she was going to let them live, but instead, she picked up a nearby gun and double shot each of them at point blank. She wasn't leaving anyone to tell a tale.

No one was to be left alive.

* * *

Bucky found himself combatting a few more men, leaving them injured by shooting their arms or legs, and then, the third tank went up in flames. Bucky turned to see if Essie was there in plain sight, but she wasn't. She was behind the third explosion, without a doubt. God, she was fast. It was then that he heard some German being shouted and the remaining troops were being called backwards.

The roar of victory was loud and prominent over the Allied base as the German troops were running away behind their last remaining tank and cars. The dust began to clear and the men roared up in cheers as the remaining enemies scurried away from their premises.

They had won.

* * *

German troops were being rounded up and tied up into several groupings in the aftermath. They were put in a specific POW area and watched at all times by several American soldiers. Many americans were injured by bullets, and some even faced the price of death defending their nation. The body count for the US was unwanted, but what surprised Colonel Philips was the amount of dead Germans.

Not even that, it was _how_ the Germans were killed. Many of them had their guts spilling out from a deep knife cut, while others had their throats slit so deep that the bone showed. A fair few had their necks snapped out of place, and a final one or two had a hole ripped into their chest. It was a violent cruel way of killing that was never once taught to the American men.

It was a murderous, inhuman way of killing.

The amount of strength to snap a neck is one thing, but the strength to push through bone and to the other side of the body, regardless of thickness, is another. Philips gazed at the deceased German with the injury, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's creative, I'll give it that," the Colonel said aloud to the neighboring doctor. He bent down, examining the deceased. "Is that his rib?"

"Uh, yes sir. I believe so. It seems as if the ribs are facing towards the back of the body, meaning whatever did this came through the front," The doctors spoke in response, standing alongside his superior.

"Whatever did this?" Colonel pestered, glancing up to the doctor,"Not who?"

"'Who' would be a rather dull question to entertain, sir. The human bone is about 4x the strength of concrete, so theoretically this 'who' would need the strength of truck of sorts," The doctor stated, bending down to the Colonel's level. He used a pencil to point out certain places on the deceased body before he continued,"Breaking ribs does not take that much pressure, but shattering them as this victim, well, that person doesn't exist, sir. I think this must be—"

"Enough," Colonel interrupted, standing up,"I don't need to hear a textbook from you."

"But, sir," The doctor pleaded, following in his superior's lead. He followed after Philips and questioned,"Do you believe this injury to be of human origin?"

Philips froze, and turned to face the black haired, short man. His old eyes narrowed as he took an intimidating step forward to the doctor. "Know your place," Philips warned,"That'll be all for now."

* * *

_**INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM COLONEL WALTER RAUFF, LOCATION BASE 8793: **_

_The soldier had super strength, speed, and weapon mastery. _

_The soldier did not fear death, and did not question to kill others. _

_The soldier was strong enough to beat through the equivalent of concrete._

_The soldier took down three arms tanks._

_The soldier is the future._

_Forward transmission to __Johann Shmidt__._

_We must recreate this soldier._

_Hail Hydra. _

_**END TRANSMISSION**_

* * *

**Oh dayum. **

**PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE. They really make my day and make me not feel like a total idiot for posting this story. **


	6. A Mission

**Woohoo chapter 6!**

* * *

Bucky sat in his bunker along with several other men recuperating from the Nazi ambush. He was laying back on the stone hard bed, gazing up at the ceiling above him and analyzing the dark crevices of the rotting wood. The air was musty, and he could've sworn the lights were flickering, ever so faintly. He let his hands slide to the back of his head, resting, as he let his eyes fall shut but never to sleep.

He had a hard time sleeping for the past day. It had been 24hrs since the attack, and the squadron was still trying to get its bearings together. Men were in casts and splints, others were just trying to cope with the fact that shifts were being double for two men as opposed to one. They weren't relocating— they were making it a fortress. After all, if the Nazi's were scared away once, they probably wouldn't waste coming back again unless it was deemed they had the upper hand.

The Sergeant sighed into the rock hard mattress, wondering where the hell Essie went.

She was missing. The woman had been gone since she ran off and finished the third tank, and then went invisible. Tim had said she probably went to kill Hitler. Others claimed she never existed and that she was a goddess fighting the do-ers of evil. No one said they saw her in the fight, but they did see the aftermath… the blood, gore, and guts.

An angel of death, a devil in disguise… The rumors went around like wildfire about the mysterious woman. Bucky tried to tune them out. He didn't want to remember those eyes, so blank and empty. He wanted to think of them when she was smiling, laughing, regardless if it wasn't genuine happiness. Bucky didn't think the woman was every truly happy, and that she was just getting by until she could go slaughter the big man.

It was… complex. But she was the only thing that seemed to occupy his mind at the moment. After all, she was the talk of the base.

Bucky couldn't help but grin at the rumors that she sprouted 6 legs, each with a different weapon. Others said she controlled fire, which is why the tanks blew so high. And yet, Bucky knew none of them were true. She was just not your average girl who had a whole load of secrets that she didn't want to spill.

The curious thing; however, was how she learned to fight the way she did. How she learned to kill so ruthlessly and not care about the lives she took? Yes, they were nazi's who killed everyone, but they too had families and loved ones. Agent S acted as if they were lifeless already, as if their stories were pointless.

It wasn't in him to do that. Bucky could never be that heartless, that brainwashed, to let the idea of death overrule humanity. It wouldn't be him.

* * *

_A Nazi tank is pulling into the yard!_

_What?_

_Everyone take arms!_

* * *

Bucky shot upwards on his bed, immediately taking the rifle on his bedside, and hopping off his bed. His green eyes were narrowed and attempted to stay focused in the flurry of soldiers running towards the entrance of the building. He followed the crowd outside, and joined only a larger group armed and ready to fire at the sole, stand-still Nazi tank. It was larger than the ones from yesterday, and it wasn't moving. But it was standing in the very same spot as the tank had yesterday.

If it was an ambush, the Nazis certainly were doing it wrong.

The latch to the top of the tank began to unscrew, and the shifting of rifles could be heard amongst the men as they prepared to fire. The squeaking top flew open, and out came none other than Walter Rauff. The man in black was bruised and bloodied on his face, and was tied up as he was hauled up and out of the tank. His weakened body flopped over the side onto the ground, his face hitting the dirt.

Colonel Phillips walked to the front of the crowd, watching the Nazi squirm on the ground but tied too tightly to move.

"Hey Philips!" A voice shouted from inside the tank with a metallic, echo-y ring.

Then, it was met by a face. Agent S crawled up the top of the tank with two guns strapped to her back, her bandages soaked with red, but her face clear of any blood splatter.

"What's the meaning of this?" Phillips shouted, watching the girl slide around the cap and hop right on down as graceful as ever.

"I brought you a present while I was out," Essie announced, landing on the ground smoothly as she hauled Rauff to his knees by his collar,"Nazi tank, Nazi Colonel…."

She leaned casually against the tank as she added with a devilish gleam," and I know where their local HQ is. I just came from there."

* * *

"It's right along here," Agent S directed, leaning over the large map of Germany in front of her. She was inside of a tent, of course, and the only other people in the room was that of Colonel Philips and those he deemed trustworthy. They all stood around the table as Agent S intricately described where the base was, and the general layout of the area. She then explained how she kidnapped Rauff and took one of their tanks, using him as a dummy, to break free and back to base.

She figured Rauff would be the best, since he killed several of Philips men. Agent S claimed that he was also really fun to 'fuck around with' and whether Philips agreed or not, would be carrying out her own personal interrogation.

"So what you're saying is if we come in the Northwest, right by the river on their flank, we can get them off guard long enough to get in and out with a team. Then, we knock out their weapon storage and come back at the crack of dawn to burn them to the ground," Philips concluded in a huff, standing on the opposing side of the table. His old eyes skimmed the map, nodding in agreement.

"Basically," Essie responded,"The first team needs to go in quietly, though. Any noise will set them off. And no offense to your camp, Colonel, they run a tighter ship than Hitler's tighty-whitties," Agent S informed dryly, her bright eyes connecting with the Colonel's.

The man was quiet for a moment, as if thinking of the plan several times before a slight nod came to his head. He would send in Agent S, clearly a woman of stealth and promise, with a team to dismantle them from the inside, only to prep for the US army attack. "I like it, Agent S. I like it a lot."

"Really?"

The Colonel paced around the room,"Well, you aren't going in solo."

"I figured."

"Pick a team, train them. If by chance you die in there on a solo, we'd come into a slaughter the next morning with no signal from you. With the disappearance of Rauff and a tank, they'll be more on guard," Philips stated dryly, leaning forward onto the map,"How long do you need to take them down from the inside?"

Agent S crossed her arms,"4 hours, tops."

"4 hours?"

The woman simply smirked,"Want me to do it in 3?"

* * *

The Howling Commandos sat in a residents quarters around a large, wooden table. It was rotting away in its old state with a dull light hanging above. Cards were split between the 6 men, and money was thrown in the center. You had Dum Dum(Tim) Dugan with his ridiculous mustache and loud personality, Jim Morita quietly watching for a move, Jacques Dernier cursing in french, James Falsworth claiming the english do the game better, Bucky Barnes as an oddly quiet member of the night, and Gabe Jones with his wide grin and laughing at the whole thing as he dealt the game.

Each of them joyously laughed, drinking their beers as they went along. It was easy— it was card night. The men were probably a bit drunker than they would've liked to have been, screaming about the pathetic Germans and how they ran away like 'sissies'.

"They were crappin' their pants!" Dum Dum roared, slamming his hand down onto the table with a hoot.

"Jus' deal zeh cards!" Jacques refocused, smirking at Gabe.

The African American put his face into his hands as he chuckled before he dealt the next hand,"But come on, Frenchie. They did look like they were waddling away!"

"It makes sense," James added,"Hitler is a loaded bag of shit."

"Hoo-yeah that's right!" Dum Dum snorted, taking in a large gulp of beer. Some of the remains of fuzz stayed on his mustache.

Bucky put a card down,"Saving some for later, Dum Dum?"

The man sniffled, before he used the sleeve of his right arm to run under his nose and remove the foam. "Can never have too much beer, Bucks."

"You say zhat too often," Jacques grinned,"You Americans going to drink yourselves into the grave."

"Actually, I think the Brits have that," James fired, raising his beer into the air and taking a deep sip,"We just don't look stupid doing it."

"Ay! I take offense to this!" Dum Dum stood up. "And we all look like idiots compared to Jim here! Sober as fuck and still winning."

The focused turned to Jim, who was quietly sitting and staring at his hand blankly. Wearily and groggily, he gazed upwards to the men watching him. "Sorry guys… I'm… trashed." Within seconds, his head went down onto the table with a thump and his cards scattered everywhere.

"Jim won."

"Yup."

"The Japanese out drank us."

"Wow."

The men threw in their decks, and before they knew it, a roar erupted throughout the entire team. They were howling, as one would say, banging on the table as laughter took over their bodies. Dum Dum was tearing at the eyes, Gabe was practically fall out of his chair. Bucky had a chuckle going, shaking his head at the nonsense of his crew.

"Mind if I step in?" A seductive voice spoke.

The laughter immediately ceased and James whispered,"By god its the angel of death herself."

Agent S' face was emotionless as she approached the table from the closest doorway. Her white bandages were now only on her arms, and a new shirt was given to her. The faint scarring on her neck and forehead were gone completely, and she walked as if she didn't have her skin peeled off her bones two days ago. In fact, she seemed as if she was never injured in the first place. Her bright eyes pierced through the dull air of the bunker, and she slowed to a stop in front of the table.

"What can I do for you, sweetheart? Gonna raise another gun to my head?" Dum Dum said aloud, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet upwards.

Agent S tilted her head, almost cat-like, before she glanced to Bucky. He was staring at her, wide-eyed, and his expression was still that of shock. She forgot that the last time she saw him was when she said she was going to run and destroy the tanks. Or maybe… Did she see him after that? She did. Agent S swallowed thickly because she vaguely remembered seeing him during the brawl. It wasn't a pretty sight. She sat on the edge of the table,"Hey Barnes. It's good to see you made it through."

Bucky's mouth drew shut, and then, he turned away from her. Essie frowned, inhaling deeply,"I'm here to recruit you men for a special mission under Colonel Philips orders. Details of the mission will go out if you accept."

"What's it for?" Gabe asked innocently.

"Shadow infiltration of Rauff's base," Essie explained,"That's all I can say until Philips talks to you, if you agree."

She found herself looking back over to Barnes once more, who was clearly doing everything in his power to not look at her. The agent stood up from the rickety table, and moved towards the door,"I'll give you guys a minute." As swiftly as she came, she left.

The Howling Commandos grew quiet. Gabe had woken up Jim, who agreed to anything as long as he could vomit somewhere. Dum Dum lead the conversation,"What do ya' think, fellas?"

"It's risky," Jacques admitted plainly, leaning back into his chair,"A shadow mission?"

"Sounds like an FBI thing," Gabe added, resting his forearms on the table.

"Or a suicide squad," James figured, taking another swig of beer,"Is that what this is going to be?"

Silence filled the once joyous room. The men were silent, pondering the potential factors of accepting this mission. They were the Howling Commandos— loud, obnoxious Hydra killers. They weren't some secret task force with the abilities to going into a German base and infiltrate it. "What do you think, Barnes?"

"What?" Bucky snapped his attention to Dum Dum.

"What do you think?"

"I… I don't know," Bucky said aloud, shifting uncomfortably.

Dum Dum leaned forwards,"You know her the best out of everyone in this camp. Is she trustworthy? Can we go on this mission?"

Bucky's jaw locked as his crystal eyes fell to his hands. He licked his lips out of nervous habit, taking a moment to think. Could he trust her? He only knew her for two days. He knew she was the same mysterious figure in the Kasserine Pass that held him tightly into her chest as bullets rammed her backside and pain seared her body. She was also the girl who he spoke to about Steve, and only encouraged him. However, she was also the _thing_ that violently tore apart the nazis with a single hand and a blade.

If anything, Bucky knew for certain that she was dangerous.

He didn't know if he could trust her, but he did know that she wanted to take down the nazi's just as much as he did.

"I think we can," Bucky whispered,"I think her help is unlike anything we've ever encountered, and if I get a chance to bring down just one more German base, I'll do it."

Dum Dum looked at his men, taking in the slight nod of the head from each and every one of them. A sense of pride filled their leader as he shouted,"HEY SWEETHEART, WE GOT AN ANSWER FOR YA'."

* * *

_The mission was rather simple. Colonel Philips had briefed the Howling Commandos and ran over the specs of the task force. They'd be in and out when Allied troops swooped in at dawn. The Howling Commandos would disarm the Germans from the inside, taking out their artillery and dismantling their weapons base. It would be when the sun rose that the army would infiltrate the base and burn it to the ground._

_On top of it, they all got special training. At the meeting, Philips gave the issue for blade-training. He said it was based off of Agent S' recommendation, since it was in shadow. Guns were only to be used if the cover was blown, and therefore the use of the blade or knife would be that much better in fighting. In addition, she would review hand to hand with each of the commandos. _

* * *

"God, Barnes, this isn't going to work if you don't punch me," Essie sighed. She paced around the clearing that she sat in 2 days ago with Sergeant Barnes, simply eating a ham and cheese sandwich. Now, they were both beading sweat under the sun's scorching heat and Bucky still couldn't land a single blow on the woman.

Bucky threw a pathetic punch,"I'm trying!"

"Barely," Agent S dodged, swinging her leg up to nail him in the groin. Bucky flew back from the impact and collapsed to the ground with a groan. The woman squat down beside him. She looked at him wince in pain and a small smile came to her lips,"You doing alright?"

"Fine!" Bucky spat, his hands cradling his stomach.

The agent merely comforted,"Lets try something else."

Essie extended her hand, to which Bucky grabbed. He wrapped his fingers around hers tightly as she hauled him up with ease. Bucky regained his footing moments after being brought to a stand and brushed off his pants,"What do you mean, something else? We've been at this for hours and now you want to move on?"

The woman reached under her waist belt and pulled out two knives,"These are the best for silent killing. Once you're good at a blade, which most people aren't, you have the upper hand."

Essie walked forward and let her left hand touch Bucky's right arm. Her fingertips then slid downwards,"You see, a knife has the same potential of a bullet." Bucky froze in his spot, watching her carefully as her fingers danced along his tricep to his forearm. Her hand then cupped his, before sliding the knife into his palm.

"It's a kind of weapon you need to be taught to make perfect," Essie explained, backing away. Bucky's body relaxed the moment her touch left his arm. She took her blade and flicked it up into the air, catching it effortlessly.

"How'd you do that?" Bucky watched in wonder.

"The flip?" Essie pointed out,"It's simple. Once you know the weight of your weapon, you can sort of get a feel for it and how it spins. Watch." And she did the same thing again.

"Sometimes, I catch it upside-down so my grip is on top and not the bottom for more of a 'stabbing' attack," Essie spoke as she demonstrated her words,"This kind of stuff becomes muscle memory, knife work. Once I get you into the groove, you'll be as silent as a mouse but deadly as a snake."

"Animal metaphors, wow," Bucky grinned, moving the knife in his grip to get the feel. His bright eyes fell on Essie, and he couldn't help but smile. She got lost in her own world somehow, flipping the blade in her hand and spinning to catch it. She kept performing weird tricks of bouncing the butt off her knee and still flawlessly grabbing it out of thin air. Her brown locks were falling out of her high pony tail, cascading down the nape of her neck and framing her face.

Beautiful and deadly.

She was the finest trained killer and yet right now, she seemed like any ordinary person prepping for battle. She was smiling, focused, and brilliant. She was lethal and yet somehow, that image of the blank-stared, cold-hearted killer didn't seem anything like the woman before him.

Bucky watched in amazement as Essie got lost in the motions with the blade, and before she even spoke, Bucky asked,"What happened back there, in the ambush?"

She shortly stopped,"Excuse me?"

"Something changed about you, Essie," Bucky walked forward and carefully placed a hand onto her shoulder. She whirled to look up at him, her blue orbs shimmering in the sunlight but somehow, seemed so dull. Bucky continued,"It was like… you weren't you. Like a machine."

Essie frowned,"Why do you ask?"

"I just— you know, you probably can't tell me. It's stupid," Bucky retreated, letting his hand fall away from her body. However, she caught it. Bucky's stared in her in disbelief as she took his hand into hers, tucking her knife away into her pocket. She slowly brought his hand up to rest on the swell of her breast and her hand on his wrist to steady him. He felt how warm she was, and the steady rise and fall of her chest. His finger just barely touched her skin through her low collar, and it was like fire. Under the gentle inhalation, Bucky felt the small thumping rhythm of her heart. It was fluttering, soft, gentle.

"I'm not a machine, Bucky," Essie admitted,"And there was a time when I let this little beating thing in my chest make my choices for me. More people died than I could've imagined because I _didn't make the choice_. Now, when I fight, I take away the choice. If you're my enemy, you're dead." The woman's jaw tightened as her grip on Bucky's wrists tightened,"That's what makes you a better solider than me."

Bucky felt his lips part in disbelief as she let her expression become just a bit sadder,"You can stop killing. You can go to a life after this in America with a wife and kids and have a happy family. You're a better soldier because you can listen to your heart, and I ignore it. I might've lost it." Her grip loosened on his wrist, her hand sliding up to cover his hand with her own, only to carefully remove him from her chest. "I will never have a future like you. Don't let that go."

"You sound like you're already dead," Bucky whispered, feeling the warmth of her touch disappear as soon as it came. For a second, and only a second, he wondered what it'd be like if she held on a bit longer.

Essie's expression fell even more, and she gave him the weakest of smiles.

_You didn't already know?_

"Come on, let's start up with training. It's getting late soon, and I don't want to miss James' session," Essie said aloud, turning around from him.

"You know," Bucky began,"That's my name too."

"Hm?"

"My name. James Buchanan Barnes."

Essie turned around, laughing. She released her knife up from her belt loop and pointed it at Bucky,"Okay then, James Buchanan Barnes… Come at me."

* * *

**Yay! I'm so excited to post this. I have so many more chapters written up after this and it gets more and more intense.**

**For anyone that thinks Agent S is a mary-sue-type character, just wait until the next chapter for a little more characterization. I'm trying to think of better ways to show her personality, but she's kind of a confident asshole at first. **

**Please leave me a review, favorite, or follow and I'll love you forever!**


	7. Spotted

**Uh... warning for really gross violence up ahead guys. It's really fucked up.**

* * *

Dean spent days wondering what the hell he should do. He couldn't just accept that his whole purpose for the past three years of his life had gone to waste. If Essie was gone… now what?

What could he possibly do. He was too smart for any normal job, and anything beyond that would abuse his intelligence. SHIELD would have him build some nuclear weapon, and the FBI wouldn't be much different. No matter what happened, he was fucked because he would either be overused or underused.

Perhaps he could become a waiter or a simple computer technician? He could feign being stupid if it meant he'd actually get paid every once in a while. It would at least give him something of a job and he could play dumb. That was, of course, until someone found out who he was.

Dean leaned back in his chair, his converse-adorned feet propped up on the console. His eyes glazed over the destroyed time jumper. Wires were everywhere, sprouting out from all sides of the circle and some still sparking. Panels fell off, revealing different insides and hanging by a few screws.

A frown appeared on Dean's face as he remembered the blood red eyes of Essie and her screams as she vanished through that very same contraption. The Stone reacted with red negative energy when Essie was either using it too much or was under some emotional turmoil. However, Dean highly doubted it was either. It was because she was time traveling— a forbidden art.

He was terrified.

The look on her face… That _scream_. It was seared into his memories and stopped him from sleeping when he saw how inhuman she looked. It was as if her mouth grew larger, her blood red eyes widener, and the pain only seemed to magnify from there. She sounded like she was screaming loud enough to rip through time itself, when infact time was ripping her.

Dean knew Essie could handle physical pain very well— she was a master at getting destroyed and rebuilding herself. But mentally? That was where Dean became afraid. It was a place he couldn't fix.

There were many times Essie has been in a kind of pain where he couldn't help.

His name was Don Regardo, a mobster in Italy. He was smuggling millions of gold blocks to China in an attempt to restart the opium trade. Essie had stopped him, of course, but not without a price.

* * *

"_I have a visual," Essie whispered, her finger coming up to press the small device on her ear to communicate with her true eyes back at base. Dean was typing away, glancing up to the large monitors that were zoning in on Essie's location in the Italian Warehouse. He saw the different figures walking along the warehouse floor, armed, and pacing. _

"_He has 50 men, scattered. I'm zoning in on them now for movement patterns," Dean said aloud, knowing his microphone would capture the message and send it to his partner._

_Essie's jaw tightened,"I'm going to get a better look. Regardo's on the phone. Do you think you can trace it?"  
_

"_Not a problem. Give me 5."_

_The agent was up on a high rise, gazing over the ledge and peering down at Don Regardo. The man paced back and fourth, his gold chain swinging around his white, open collared shirt and blank slacks. He wasn't a particularly large man, but he had a bit of a gut. She was hidden away, about 3 stories up, and waiting for the right moment to jump down._

_She watched Regardo scream at his men, who Essie found to be rather stumpy. The short stature of his men were rather odd, in fact. Too odd. Why would he get a group of people who wouldn't be as strong as a full sized human. "Dean, I think Regardo got a band of midgets to be his entourage."_

_"Well, go knock them down. I got a trace on the phone call, Regardo just sent the ship out and it's ironically done old school with he. Apparently, he has a key to the gold and it's only that key that can get to it, so that's your in," Dean informed through the earpiece._

_Essie didn't even respond. Her body seemed to act on instinct as she swung her legs over the railing and dropped three floors down, landing as smoothly as a cat on the concrete surface. She immediately stood up, her bright eyes piercing that of Don Regardo. The phone fell from his hand as he whispered,"You're here."_

_The woman didn't respond, but simply began to analyze the situation. She saw two masked men right behind him, 8 on the second deck to the left and right, as well as a few sniper points she could faintly make out from a tiny reflection of the gear._

"_We can make this easy, Donnie, or hard," Agent S explained,"You can give me the key, and you spend time in jail, or I take the key from you. Simple enough?"_

_The man watched her carefully, before a large, gold-tooth grinned brimmed on his lips. His wide eyes grew manic as roaring laughter escaped his throat,"How about neither!"_

_Essie sighed. They always did it the hard way. The woman frowned, and sudden flicked her wrists. A blue spark emitted from her shoulders and trickled down to her wrists, where two, large blades appeared. Essie grabbed the handles to her twin blades, swirling them in her grip. She noticed how the soldier's shifted nervously, before she heard a noise she never thought she'd hear._

_A cry._

_Someone was crying. A _child_ was crying and she couldn't exactly pinpoint where. It was a muffled cry, as if the child couldn't breathe. _

_Essie's body stiffened. Regard was keeping children nearby when he knew she was coming? He knew there'd be gunfire and yet he kept a kid nearby._

"_Where's the kid," Essie demanded, her stance growing more offensive and ready. _

"_The kid? The kids? The children," Don mused, shaking his head,"What do you think, I run a nursery? No no, I don't own a nursery." His body walked to one of his men, short in stature, and removed the mask. What was standing there was not a midget, but a child. A boy no more than 10, with brown messy hair and bright chocolate orbs. Tears were running down his face as he hiccuped, a gun strapped to his hand an mechanical collar around his neck. "I own a child army."_

_Essie felt her heart sink down into her chest. Her breathe escaped her lungs and her eyes grew wide. Children. Innocent, beautiful children. Essie's body trembled. Her very bones shook in horror as she stared at that little boy's face, tear-streaked and scared for his life. Her head shifted to glance at all of the masked figures around her and noticed that their legs were shaking every so slightly. _

"_Let him go. Let them all go," Essie hissed, shooting a glare at Don. _

"_I would, but you see, they have to do what I say or this little collar on their neck? You see it? It goes boom if they don't," Don chuckled, roughly patting the boy's head,"But of course, there is a trick to it all. A key. There is a single key that will unlock all of their necks."_

"_I'm going to—"_

"_Ah ah ah," Don chortled, stopping Essie's words,"You're right. It is the same key as the key to my shipment of gold. But, here is the fun part, Agent S. You have to… _find _the key. It's hidden somewhere in this building."  
_

_Agent S' hand shot up to her ear,"I need a full scan of—"_

"_Not in the physical building," Don continued,"But… in one of my beautiful, darling soldiers."_

_The woman froze. She felt horror seize her voice as she stared at him in shock. Her head rocked back and fourth in disbelief as she realized what he was saying. The key was inside of one of the children… probably swallowed by force or something. She highly doubted the kids could tell her who ate the key, and she knew if she killed Don all them could die._

_Her eyes grew hazy as a slim layer of wetness broke over her vision. She was able to pull back her tears as she sneered,"You're a monster."_

"_Says the monster herself," Don fired back, shrugging as he rang his fingers through the small boy's head of hair. "You can either kill a few, find the key, and some make it out alive, or kill them all and lose the cargo ship. Do anything outside of this and everything goes 'poof'."_

_Before Don could say a another word, Essie dove down onto her hands and whirled her body around. She flicked her heels and two spring loaded cuffs bursted out of her heels and wrapped tightly around Don's feet and hands. _

_Agent S sneered to the wiggling man,"Don't you dare move."_

_Her gaze fell on the small boy, and the other unmasked child as well. Her eyes watered as she whispered to the brown haired boy,"I'm going to try to get the collar off of you, okay?"_

_Slowly, carefully, she approached the small child. He was trembling when she knelt down in front of him and Essie found she was as well. She swallowed thickly as she spoke so slowly,"I'm going to scan the collar."_

_She raised her finger to her ear and clicked the earpiece. A see-through film appeared in front of her eyes, almost like goggles. On it, she was able to see the intricate details of the collar spread out. Dean was able to work on his side to scan the collar as well to see what he could find. She had her technology rip it apart, only to feel her hands clench tightly into fists._

"_You see it, don't you," Don chuckled on the ground, squrming,"Any harm to the collar, or me, would result in them all dying. A full-proof plan! I've have you out-witted yo—"_

"_Shut your fucking trap!" Agent S hissed, momentarily glaring at the scum on the ground before turning her eyes back to the child. _

_She didn't even know his name, and yet he stood there so afraid. He didn't know what to do but to cry, sniffle, and let himself stand there in front of the one woman who had the smallest chance of saving him. He could go home to momma and the new baby. He could go hug his daddy who was coming home from the big fights his momma told him about. _

_"What's your name?" The woman spoke lowly in a broken voice._

_"Mikey."_

_And yet, he didn't know what to do when he saw a gun barrel appear to his head. __She was going to make it painless._

"_You're going to be an angel, Mikey," Essie cried to him in the gentlest voice, before her finger fell onto the trigger and pulled it back. She caught the body in her hand, dropping the gun to the floor as she cradled the newly dead to her chest. He was still so warm, and his cheeks were still wet from the tears he was crying. Agent S gritted her teeth and hugged him into her body as a blade came up from her wrist. With a cry erupted from her mouth, she dug the blade into his stomach and began to search for the key. _

_By the time she was on the 4th child, her movements became more mindless. She apologized to the small, blond haired girl with bright green eyes, no older than 10, before whispering that it'd be painless and she'd be an angel. Agent S, with blood dripping down her face and mixing with tears, gritted her teeth and wrinkled her nose as she sent the bullet straight through that little girl's face. Once the child was dead, she more easily sliced open the body and began to dig, ignoring the wet tears continually strolling down her face._

* * *

Out of the 50 children soldiers, only 23 survived. She was able to remove the collars with the key, and release the 23 children. The other bunch were shredded to pieces along the cold, hard concrete flood that was stained in blood and soaked organs.

By the time she moved to Don Regardo, he was shaking in his shackles that she _actually did it. _It wasn't long before Essie's eyes grew red, and then everything… everything became red. Dean had never witnessed a more brutal murder than what Essie did to Don Regardo that night. It was a night that changed her forever.

Dean sighed into his hands, running his fingers along his scalp before he began to type on his keyboard. Out of habit, he did a facial recognition scan to see if anyone took a picture in 1943 that could be Essie and that he'd know she was alive. After a week, he programed the scan to be consistently checking, and when he'd open the program, he'd see if anything came up.

Normally, nothing was there. It was a blank, empty screen with no results.

However, when Dean found himself staring at an old picture of a woman, standing on a Nazi tank in the middle of an Allied base with a beautiful, healthy grin on her face, Dean's body became alive and a large grin swept across his once disappointed expression.

It was Essie. She was alive, and she was fighting.

* * *

Essie swept her hair up into a high ponytail. Her bright eyes stared up into the sun as her hands rested on her hips. She had 4 more days to prepare the Commandos for the invasion, and 4 more days to figure out how she was going to sneak out of the armory to a General's tent and steal information on Hitler's location.

Yes, she cared very much to help the Allied powers win the war, and truthfully, she enjoyed getting to know Dum Dum Dugan and how he was half drunk during training, or the skillful nature of Jim Morita. He was fun to teach a blade to since he knew the basics of the Japanese katana. She even had a hell of a time perfecting her English accent with James as she said,'bloody hell' every time he nearly landed a shot. Nearly.

But at the end of the day, her mission was her mission.

Essie was standing by a tent, waiting for a certain someone. Not before long, a woman came out carrying a box and handed it to the woman. "I don't know how you wash that thing," the woman remarked,"But I got it as clean as I know how."

"Thank you," Essie smiled brightly,"I appreciate the effort. I'm sure it's wonderful."

The woman nodded her head and retreated back into the tent.

"Seems everyone is giving you favors," A familiar voice spoke to her that made Essie grin.

Essie whirled around,"Well, Barnes, if only you knew how to charm someone."

Bucky's jaw dropped, a smile playing at his lips. He tightened his jaw and straightened upwards, his eyes flashing with some sort of excitement as he spoke elegantly,"The gentlemen of the Howling Commandos coordinately invite you to join us for supper."

The woman didn't look amused,"I said charming, not a stick up your—"

"Hey, hey," Bucky fought,"It was pretty good."

"Is that how you invite all your girls out?" Essie retorted, shifting up to him before she added,"because I don't think you'd fend well."

Bucky pursed his lips,"And all I was doing was inviting you to dinner."

"If you want to ask me on a date," Essie laughed, placing her hand on his shoulder tenderly as she gazed up at him with overly dramatic,"_All you have to do is ask._"

A small blush rose up on Bucky's cheek as he shook his head. Words escaped his mouth and when he found his voice he fired,"You really think that's how I'd ask a girl to a dinner date?"

Essie simply shrugged,"Seems like it."

Essie and Bucky, together, began on her way to the Howling Commando's barracks, the place there they often sat together for dinner. Bucky's tongue flickered out to lick his lips as he found himself trailing beside Essie,"I'd take her dancing first before dinner to see if she can have fun. Dinner involves a lot of talking, you know? And if I can't have fun with her then I can't be serious with her too."

The sun began to set in the distance, and there was a soft glow of the orange sky appearing beyond the trees.

"I'd take him to a gun range," Essie murmured.

"You'd take a first date to a gun range and you think I'm not charming," Bucky snickered, shaking his head,"You're never going to find a guy that can handle you."

Essie scoffed,"I can be a very wonderful person, Barnes."

"You don't even consider dancing as a date!" Bucky ran his fingers through his long, brown tangled head.

"It's how I grew up. I think I'd like to go dancing one of these days," Essie spoke aloud, rather distantly. "Back at home, we hardly dance for the fun of dancing itself." After all, dancing in 2015 meant clubbing which in turn, meant grinding on men. It wasn't for the joy of dancing itself… it was more like a mating ritual. It was primal, seductive, and not… fun. 1940's dancing was purely for the joy of dancing itself, a style that has been lost.

"Where is home?"

"New York," Essie replied easily, knowing very well the New York Bucky knew was quite different from her own.

"Ah, the city of dreams. I'm from Brooklyn," Bucky added, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"Brooklyn," Essie repeated, knowing the place she imagined was far different than Bucky's home. "Mom and dad there?"

"Uh, no. My father," Bucky easily replied, but Essie saw the slight tension run along his jaw. "My father was a soldier at Camp Lehigh back in the states. I'm the oldest of four, and we stay with my mom. She's a beautiful woman."

"She raised you well."

"Yeah?"

Essie smiled,"I'm alive because of you. At least she gave you good judgement."

"What about you? Secret Agent Secret must be able to tell something about her home life," Bucky pestered. Truthfully, he didn't expect an answer.

He didn't expect to hear anything when her voice grew soft and she began talking,"I grew up with two beautiful parents and two sisters. I was the middle. My father was a doctor, and my mother stayed at home. I was always an odd child— I thought too much. My mind was never there but thinking of things grander than in existence. Things grew complicated, and when I became who I am, I had to separate from my family. They think I'm dead now."

Bucky stopped,"Dead?"

Essie did too,"If I didn't, then they could get hurt. They were relocated by the government as a favor and were given new names. They were told they were targeted for a Nazi raid for an undisclosed cause, so they didn't fight it." Essie spoke a little bit of a lie to adjust to the time zone, seeing how her family was under the Witness Protection Act of 1970. Her family was actually told there was a murder attempt on their life.

"Do you know where are they now?"

"Kentucky. I do my secret stuff sometimes and check up on them a few times a year," Essie began to walk again, crossing her arms in front of her body and hugging the box close to her,"They are doing alright."

"Do you miss them?" Bucky asked curiously.

The woman nodded, a slight pained expression flickering across her eyes before they were gone,"I miss them more than anything, but they are safe."

The two walked in silence from there. Bucky didn't know how to respond. He wanted to keep pressing onwards, but he knew she wouldn't reveal anything as to who she _really_ _was. _Everything she spoke could've been a lie, seeing how she refused to tell Bucky really anything. But something deep in his chest told him he could trust her, and that she wouldn't hurt in the way everyone is expecting her to.

There was a bit more humanity inside her bright blue eyes than she led everyone to believe.

"Guess some people can have the serious talk before dancing," Bucky hummed as they neared the barracks. Bucky grinned as his large hand fell on the top of Essie's brown mop of hair, giving it a small scruff. He used to do this to Steve sometimes as a sign of brotherhood, but for now? It was a thank you. He saw Essie's jaw drop in disbelief and he knew he had to run if he didn't want to get his ass kicked.

* * *

**I know this was a heavy Essie chapter, but I just wanted to add more depth to her before we continued. One more chapter of pre-invasion, and then bad-assary will occur.**

**Please review, favorite, and follow!**


	8. Silence

**Happy Civil War! This is my little treat to all of you needing that BuckyOC craving fulfilled!**

* * *

Bucky's stormy eyes washed over his knife He wondered why such a thing was in his possession. It glittered in the light of his cabin, and his fingers traced over the engraved "_S"_ located right under the hilt. He couldn't tell what the blade was made out of, but he had a feeling it was strong enough to cut to the bone and perhaps _through bone_. He frowned, twirling it in his wrist. The knife was a gift.

_Bucky was wandering towards his barracks after dinner with the Howling Commandos and Essie. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard that he almost spit beer through his lips. The conversations were thrilling as they talked about guns, woman, and war strategies. And Essie was one of the guys. She didn't make it awkward that she was a foreign female body in the room, but rather, seamlessly fell into line. She answered their dumb questions on how it works, and was very blunt with exposing secrets some of them were not aware of. _

_By the time they were all a decent way into their drinking, they decided to call it quits so they wouldn't die the next morning for training. Essie entertained the idea they were all lightweights, and Dum Dum argued that he could take her in a shot for shot contest. In return, she told him she'd take him on after they were victorious._

_Bucky was feeling the cool night air on his skin, his hands shoved deeply into his cargo pockets when he heard,"__ "__Barnes!__" _

_The __soldier __ slowly turned around to see brown hair flailing in the wind as he grinned,"What can I do for ya', Essie?"_

_The bright blue eyes of Essie met Bucky's, and her hand grasped his shirt and turned him towards her. Essie pursed her lips as she released her grip, and began to search her back pocket,"Well, the invasion night is big for us."_

_Bucky furrowed his brows, his eyes narrowing at her actions, but the girl continued as dug through her pants,"And since you're not half bad at what I taught you, I want to give you this."_

_The agent pulled out a sparkling silver blade, only about 6 inches of length, and handed it to the __soldier __,"If we get split up, or if you run out of bullets, you'll have your best shot with this."_

"_Really?"_

"_Don't get sentimental on me Barnes— it's so you can practice with it and not die in a few days."  
_

_Bucky stood a bit straighter, running his fingers through his dirty hair and giving it a scratch. In his other hand, he awkwardly held the blade that surprisingly had some weight to it. "Uh, thank you."_

"_I'll see you in the AM," Essie casually spoke, before disappearing rather quickly from sight. _

Bucky couldn't sleep though. He sat there, staring at this strange, foreign blade and wondered why it was given to him. He twirled it in his hand once more, knowing very well that the single blade was the difference between life and death.

* * *

The night air was cool. The stars were slowly rising and twinkling in the darkened sky, gently illuminating the pathway among the trees. It was a gorgeous night for bloodshed. The Howling Commandos had an all nighter coming their way, and an important one at that. And now time was ticking down for their departure to the Nazi camp.

"You men ready for this?" The Colonel asked, pacing the line of soldiers that stood before him fully armed. They wore all black, including their faces covered in paint to blend in with the darkness. Each of them held various weapons, mainly guns, and Jim with his katana in tow.

"Sir yes sir!" The soldiers responded, standing straight and upright.

"If there are any questions, concerns, or sissies in this group, speak now, or else you won't be seeing the sun again," Phillips bellowed, ensuring these men were prepared to give their lives for this mission.

Philips continued to pace with his hands locked behind his back,"There is no room for failure boys. If you do happen to fail, the entire camp will die. Do you understand that?"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Good, because if you do fail, do not even think of returning back to this camp alive," Philips warned, halting in front of the Howling Commandos. His eyes scanned the group, watching the 6 men stand with their heads high and their hearts bleeding red white and blue. The hustle and bustle around the camp was too, in preparation for the sunrise in which they were to attack. A lot of troops were moving, gearing up, and getting ready to fight. It was the feeling of war.

"Now, where is your tour guide?" The Colonel asked aloud, turning around to gaze upon an approaching figure. Strolling towards them was a woman, dressed in a tight black suit that hugged every curve of her athletic body. Her suit lead to a pair of sleek boot-heels, attractive and secretly lethal. Her neckline had a zipper that revealed her chest and a tasteful dip of cleavage. Her hair was long and flowing by her shoulders, and her bright eyes were piercing in the night.

She placed her hands on her waist, giving a small smile,"Ready boys?"

Colonel Phillips scoffed almost immediately,"You're going to fight Nazi's in those boots and with no weapons, Agent S?"

Essie's gaze swept over the Howling Commandos, and then up to Philips as she cooly responded,"Sir yes sir."

Her eyes were knowing, but even moreso, exact. There was no fear present, and nothing in her expression showed any sign of unawareness of her state. She knew exactly what was going to happen tonight, and the Colonel had no real idea.

Philips simply spoke,"The entire Allied army is depending on this night. Don't screw it up by thinking this is some sort of joke." His eyes locked with the woman's, before his took his walk away to foresee the attack setup.

"We all feel good?" Agent S asked the group, watching them break their soldier formation and form into a circle. Their postures fell, and their stature became more human-like and less military. She heard them all breathe a sigh as they began to become more themselves.

"As ready as we will ever be," The British James spoke, inhaling deeply.

Jacques chuckled in his thick french accent,"I think we are all clear."

Gabe shook his head,"It's going to be tough to not get caught."

Essie frowned, placing a hand on Gabe's shoulder,"We won't get caught, Gabey. We went over it. It's going to be tough to not kill loudly. Silent combat is _key_. You have knives, your bodies, your… " Essie glanced at Jim,".. katana. We won't get caught. Only use your if guns if they know we are there."

The woman's eyes fell on Bucky's, who was staring down into the ground and practically burning a hole into it. He was nervous. She could feel it. She could _hear _his heartbeat frantically pounding. It was almost the same fluttering of Dean's before she went on all her missions. It was the same nervous, pitter patter thump that was all too sweet to ignore.

"You're all seeing the sunrise, boys." Essie assured as she rallied them,"We have a mission to do that'll give us the war. Fight with me, a stranger, but a friend nonetheless."

The boys nodded their heads along with her, confidently smile.

Essie crossed her arms, flashing her white teeth at her crew as Dum Dum hollered,"Let's go kill some Nazi's assholes!"

* * *

The crew hopped into a truck and was led as close to the camp as possible. They had to stop about 1 mile away, or else they would run into Nazi patrols on the perimeter. There were lookouts everywhere, and the trunk was definately not the easiest thing to camouflage. Essie had scouted where to park the car, how to cover it, and leave it there until the return. They carefully covered the truck by a mass of trees where it perfectly blended and remained undetected.

The Howling Commandos and Essie halted. Her eyes scanned the forest, before silently signaling the direction they were to go. They had to move as agile as possible through the woods, avoiding noisy branches and trees. Their gazes were consistently searching for anything that would cause a problem.

Essie had to admit, once in war mode, these guys were on it. Sharp gazes, focused expressions, steadied heartbeats. They were trained to fight… Maybe not trained to be spies but at least trained to be soldiers.

The Howling Commandos went first, and Essie trailed the end. Her job was to make sure they weren't followed, and she trusted Jim in the front to spot any potential threats. He was by far the smoothest eye of the bunch next to Barnes.

Her ears were completely in tune with the hum of the forest, listening in to anything besides the 6 heartbeats in front of her. She was determined to find any outliers, or anything really that could expose them before they even make it to the camp. If it was Essie alone, she'd be up in the trees where she wouldn't risk exposure. But of course, that wasn't the case with 6 full grown men.

Her right hand fell to her left wrist, covered in her black uniform, and pressed her fingertip lightly to the pulse point. Suddenly, a faint red light began to pulse. Then, down her forearm, appeared 5 other red lights lightly flickering in a row. It looked almost like a spine on her arm with dull red lights.

Yes, Agent S worked solo, but she also wasn't going to let people die who weren't supposed to die. This mission was an anomaly in time, and she knew going into it that if anyone died on her watch, it could have greater repercussions. People wouldn't be born, events wouldn't happen… Things wouldn't exist if these 6 men didn't survive this and she understood that.

So, she'd keep a careful eye on them with technology that tracked each one. She'd know if they were actually in danger, and not simply afraid. The red light would pulse based on their life, and a quicker pulse would show danger or danger of death. Right now, each red light was strong in their illumination.

Suddenly, the group heard something in the distance. Essie's bright eyes lit up, scanning the darkness before the group. It was a car about 400 ft west. She heard the engine groan, and the cracking of branches beneath the tires. Luckily, Jim had seen the car's headlights and halted the group. They all got extremely low to the ground, crouching silently and waiting. Agent S stepped backward by a tree, her eyes narrowing as she gazed into the car.

_2 Nazi's. Armed. Front seat. Transporting nothing. Patrol. _

Jim glanced back to Agent S, to which she calmly shook her head. Her eyes for a moment met with Bucky's, who gazed at her with an unsure expression. She weakly smiled at him, knowing very well it would be better for them to disarm the car; however, she couldn't risk someone contacting the patrol with no response back. They had to be unnoticeable.

Jim, once seeing the car far out to the east, gave the signal to move forward.

* * *

Dean couldn't believe she goddamn made it. He couldn't believe that even after having every cell ripped apart, she was pieced back together.

A sigh escaped his lips and he immediately began to program the return trip. He would set the date for a certain time and day, so that no matter what happened, she would be returned then. Truthfully, Dean wouldn't know _when_ to bring her back, and all he knew is that he had to bring her back before she changed too much in the past.

2 months.

If Essie really wanted to kill Hitler, she'd have it done by then. She always got things done as quickly as possible without anything stopping her. Dean smiled weakly, knowing he would get someone back a bit different than when she left. She traveled through time, and he expected some repercussions mentally and physically. Perhaps she would come back a vegetable, or high on the juice of The Stone?

That was why it was essential for the return trip to be perfect. It would take Dean a few days time to fully get the program running correctly, and he needed his full concentration. When Essie returned, it would be two days for him, and 2 months for her.

However, what Dean didn't expect, was that in a days time, Nick Furry would be pronounced dead and Captain America a fugitive. The entire world was going to change.

* * *

By the time the group had made it into the camp, Gabe had sliced a hole into the fence to let everyone in, and then Essie directed them quietly to where the armory is located. She mapped this place when she made her last trip here, and it was still imprinted in her mind to the coordinates. They had been hidden behind a nearby building, about 25ft from the entrance of the armory.

Surrounding the front doors armory were patrols. Clear red Nazi bands were strapped onto their uniform's arm, and their bodies were still as they watched their surroundings. Agent S glanced behind to her pack of Howling Commandos, giving them a small wink, before sliding around the edge of the building.

_Time to show 'em how it's done._

Dum Dum waddled forward, glancing around the edge of the building to watch something he'd never seen before. He was watching a cat and mouse at its finest. He heard Agent S speaking… _german_. The woman looked so calm and collected approaching the two gun-holding men, and they seemed to be extremely confused why a beautiful woman dressed so strangely was approaching them at 1 in the morning. If it was any of the commandos, shots would've been fired, but not with this woman. They were even lowering their guns.

It seemed as though they tried to respond to her, before Agent S dropped to the ground and swiped her foot underneath the first soldier , having him losing his balance. Before the second soldier could react, she was on her feet, grabbing his gun and using the butt of it to smack him in the face. With ease, she used the balance of the second man to kick the first one down again. Finally, she raised her elbow, smacked it into the second's face, and had him fall backwards.

What happened next surprised the entire team. Essie lifted both unconscious men in each hand as if they were feathers and walked them behind the armory building. When she reappeared, you could see that she was sheathing a reddened blade within her waistband.

No one was to be left alive that saw them. And the Howling Commando's knew she was making an example of what their kills should look like until sunrise when the Allies attacked.

"From what I can tell, the armory is empty but for a few people inside. We need to get to them fast, and at the same time. Ready?" She whispered softly as she reappeared beside the team, making eye contact with each of the 6 soldiers. A smile perked at her lips, and before anyone knew it, they were making their way slowly inside the large warehouse of weapons.

They split up into 2 teams. The first team's job, which consisted of Bucky, Jim, and James, was to remove the remaining soldiers from the warehouse. They were the stronger fighters, and were needed to dismantle enemies. Dum Dum, Gabe, and Jacques had the job of placing tiny little wall-bombs on several locations throughout the warehouse without being heard. The bombs looked almost like little compact mirrors, but they had a strange metallic outside with a deep blue glow to them. They latched onto whatever surface they were pressed against, and remained there.

Futuristic, yes, but it was actually an idea Essie stole from Tony Stark 70 years before their time.

* * *

Bucky moved as silent as a ghost. His footsteps did not make a single noise as he swept through layers of groundwork. Surrounding him were stacks upon stacks of guns, as well as crates of gunpowder. He saw machine-guns up the wha-zoo, and grenades piled into crates. The amount of weaponry in this warehouse was astounding, and the ground floor was like a maze. His heart was pounding out of his chest, but it only added to the rush of it all.

This mission felt right.

He caught out of the corner of his eye Dum Dum moving swiftly, placing the grenade-wall-timed-things with ease. None of them really knew what the small devices were, but Agent S assured them it was going to pack a punch.

Bucky felt his body tense as the sound of footsteps neared. No one was supposed to cover this area but him. It had to be the enemy.

_Silent kill_.

Bucky inhaled deeply, listening in to the direction of the footsteps before backing around a nearby corner. With his back against a large crate, he peered to where a Nazi patrol entered. The sound of the rubber boots were so loud and echoing.

The soldier waited for a moment, waiting for the timing to be just right, before he slammed his knee upwards into the gut of the Nazi. His elbows downwards onto the back of the neck as hard as he could, hearing a slight snap of the vertebrae. Immediately, Bucky grabbed a hold of the body to refrain from any noise, before gently placing the soldier down to the side. Bucky felt for a pulse, but found nothing.

Bucky's breath was rapid, but without noise. It felt exhilarating as he slowly stood upwards, knowing he just did exactly what he needed to do for his country. His eyes were sharp, scouting out his next target, and he began to move again. What Bucky didn't realize was the second patrol overhearing his partner's death.

* * *

Essie was probably around 300ft away from the armory. She had killed 3 people to get inside a general's tent, killed the General with a swift knife to the neck. His body seeped blood by her feet, and the woman gingerly kicked him to the side as she began to rummage. Unfortunately, data collection wasn't as simple as plugging in a drive and copying everything computer-wise.

In fact, everything was paper. "Good old 1943," Essie bitterly murmured, her eyes scanning various papers as quickly as possible before anyone called for the General. She had found the mass frequency that the Nazi's used to radio, and was well aware of the code they used for attacking. Unfortunately, America wouldn't be able to figure out that code until enigma was complete in 1944. Perks of time traveling.

The woman searched for any movement plans of good ol' Hitler, and found that very little was written on where he would be. What would've been smart is knowing where he'd be at what time by looking at old records in 2015.

Her lips frowned deeply, and her jaw clenched. She didn't have much luck. She began to dig down into different file cabinets, pulling them open and diving in. Also no luck. "Shit," she hissed, rocking into her hands as they rested on the desk's edge. Where the hell could something like this be? A telegram somewhere?

Essie's eyes fell onto a box on the General's desk. A box big enough for numerous small, short worded papers that would be—

_BEEP BEEP. _

Essie's gaze shot down to her arm, and found herself staring at disbelief a the 6 dots that represented the Howling Commandos' life. 5 of them were okay. 1 of the red lights was blinking fast, showing that he was either attacked or dying. Essie gazed to the box quickly once more, knowing she had to make a decision fast.

Her own heart beat began to race. She had the choice to either let a man die, or find out what the latest telegram was before the entire building was burned to the ground in the morning. Essie didn't have a choice. She couldn't.

The person in trouble was Bucky.

* * *

**Yay! It's going to be a hell of a chapter coming up next too. We might get a glimpse at the *gasp* Winter Soldier...**


	9. A Flame

**Yayayayay Winter Soldier feelz here. Enjoy!**

* * *

_He had just dismantled someone. They were laying on the ground, dead, by the use of his own body to end his life. That was the combat he had learned, and that was the combat he needed to succeed. He had always learned that guns were the way of the future, but surely, not the way of stealth._

_The room was so quiet, and he was so proud. He did it. But now was no time to lose, now was the time to—._

_**Down.** He was down. He felt himself fall immediately as a fist came to meet his abdomen and punch the air out of his lungs. For a moment, there was nothing to breathe. It was like suffocation from the amount of strength used to completely take away his breath. His back fell into a wooden carton, smashing into it rather loudly._

_Shit._

_He felt his heart racing as his hand instinctively came up to block a throw. He noticed the red band on the arm that threw the attack, and realized that he was in arms with a Nazi Patrol. A second one that he clearly didn't see coming. He heard the man hiss at him, before another knee came up to shoot him in the gut. _

_His teeth gritted, and his eyes fell shut. Another knock to the face. This time, he had no way to stop it. The fist landed right in his cheek, and at the impact he bit down on his tongue. Instantly, blood began to gush from the wound and for a moment, he thought he lost his mouth entirely. The red goo began to seep from his lips, sliding down his chin and dripping as he felt something grip his hard. _

_His eyes flashed open to meet a pair of bright, menacing gray hues and blonde hair covered by a hat. The face was strong featured, with a sharp nose and defined cheeks. The german sneered with his long teeth, cursing something in a foreign tongue._

_The soldier had nothing else to do but use his legs, attempting to keep the fight as silent as possible. A knee raised with all his strength, and he attempted to dismantle the German with whatever he could. _

_A knife. He still had a knife._

_Reaching behind his body, he withdrew a silver blade and flipped it in his hand. Taking a familiar stance, he lunged forward with the pointed object and began a dance. A dance that ended with the butt of a gun to his forehead. Why wasn't the German firing and killing him?_

_Gunpowder. They were surrounded by gunpowder and if the German fired, they'd all be dead. The German was as weaponless and he was. _

_Regardless, his vision was starting to blur. Things were getting worse as he felt his body collide with the ground. There was a shooting pain in his abdomen, and he felt blood seeping from a wound he did not know he had. When was he hit? He was bleeding. It was like a shooting sensation that made his body curl at the pain. He was stabbed, and by the looks of it, it was with his own blade. _

_More blood choked up from his mouth, making it difficult to breathe. He gasped for air as his lungs begged for it, praying for some form of burst of energy to stop this. Everything was over if he failed. He was going to die._

_He saw the German remove the knife from his side, his _gifted_ silver blade, and point it right in between his eyes. The blonde man whispered something in a german tongue, before diving down with the metal to end it._

_The soldier closed his eyes. _

_Nothing came. No pain. No darkness. No light. Nothing. Nothing changed. He was holding his breath, and when he opened it, he saw something beautiful. _

_It was a woman. A woman with soft brown hair, framing her face. Her skin was that of pearls, and her eyes were electric blue in hue. She was leaning over him and gently caressing his face, whispering words from full lips that he couldn't hear. She kept moving in and out of focus, and all he could do was think of how pretty she was, and how he wanted to take her dancing. _

_He really wanted to take her dancing. _

He felt life breathe into him. Slowly, surely, his eyes began to peel open from the frosty state that they normally were in. His lungs rose slowly, inflating with air that was slowed down in cryofreeze. His heartbeat was a low thump, and he felt sharp needles in his left arm that fed him the tools in which he needed to awake with. His gaze fell on a man in a white lab coat directing him to stand from his frozen coffin. He didn't recognize the face of the man.

He kept thinking of his dream. Did he have a dream? Could he dream? Did he often dream while frozen? He didn't know. He didn't know anything besides that he woke up from a dream. He didn't know what happened in the dream. He didn't remember anything, but a pair of blue eyes that seemed so worried and yet so empty.

_There is nothing there._

"He seems distracted," A voice spoke aloud as the man stepped out a few feet from the frozen casket.

"He could be simply taking longer to awake than usual."

The man in the white lab coat approach him, shining a light into his eye. Suddenly, he felt a poke into his back. A gun. Without hesitation, he swirled around the snapped the gun in half, throwing the man that dared to threaten him against the nearest wall.

He was breathing heavily now, and when he turned around, found himself extremely focused on a man in a blue suit. The man was staring at him with a small grin on his lips. He hated that grin. He hated that man when he spoke, "Wipe him to start with, then. He needs to be focused for the kill of Nick Fury."

* * *

"Come on Barnes, don't you dare give up on me," Essie whispered, her hands finding the pressure point in where he was sliced. The point of giving him a goddamn blade was so that other people die, _not him_. It was supposed to protect him. She had ran as quietly as she could to where she heard the fight, quickly disarming the Nazi and ending his life. But, it wasn't fast enough, as Bucky was stabbed. She pressed down as hard as she needed to stopping the bleeding, but found that the sticky red substance was beginning to pool.

He needed to get out of there.

Her ears listened into the heartbeats of the warehouse, hearing 9. Two more patrols were still out there then, and if they heard or saw any of this, it'd all be over.

Essie didn't have a choice though. She needed to move with Bucky or else he'd bleed out. And in a few hours, this place was going to blow. How much did she trust the Howling Commando's to finish the job? She didn't have a choice in the matter… They _had_ to pull through at meet at the rendezvous point in 3 hours time before the sun rose.

She gave Bucky 10 minutes before she lost him, and it was a 25 minute walk to safety. She had to go.

"Come on," she whispered, grabbing his limp body and hauling it over her shoulders like a cape. She had one way of making it fast enough, and she wasn't too sure if her body had the strength to do it after the time jump only two weeks ago.

She had to power up The Stone, because it was their best shot.

Essie was about to move from the warehouse, but she noticed a glimmering object on the floor. Quickly, she swept it up as she hauled Bucky's dying body to the back exit of the armory.

There was no time to waste. Essie inhaled deeply, letting her eyes fall shut as she honed into the very cells of her body. Each of them sparked with a blue energy, and her once solid black catsuit began to light up with intricate designs that almost looked like the inside of a circuit. Lines that connected to circles and other lines, decorating her entire form like a flow of energy. She felt the power, and when her eyes flashed open, they were glowing every shade of blue.

Faster.

Essie's body began to move so fast, bursting through the metal fence and through the forest at lightening speed. Her hands focused on holding the body on her shoulders to her. She felt fire burn up in her legs as slow embers attacked her muscles. She just had to move. She had to move fast.

_Faster._

She couldn't let him die. She felt him slipping away from her and she couldn't let him goddamn die. Her mind was racing, calculating trees to distance to patrols(not that they could catch her) to the ending location to Bucky. Everything was racing, and she felt like she was burning. The Stone used up every ounce of energy she had, begging for her life each time it was activated. The Stone, living within her, gave her great strength, and each time with a price that one day could only be repaid with her own death.

_**Faster.**_

Essie had to keep him alive.

She really had no obligation to save him, in the matter. She could've came here, fucked things up for lack of a better term, and not cared. She never had really before, and her methods were so careless and lethal— whatever resulted in the highest body count in the fastest way that got the job done.

And yet here Agent S was, running through a Nazi forest with a dying soldier on her back, killing herself to save him. She never played the hero.

Yes, Bucky had saved her from the Kasserine Pass, and yes, he was the only person who laughed with ease with her around. He also was the only person who saw her in her bloodshed, and still treated her like a person. He was… a friend. She didn't have those. She had Dean, and that was it.

And if Dean were about to die in 2015, she sure as hell would do what she was doing right now. She would die for those that made her feel a bit more human to her lifeless, uncaring self.

Essie knew she couldn't hold out for much longer, and running as many miles as quickly as she did was certainly not something she did regularly. But, without a doubt, straight ahead was the hill that was out of Nazi territory with a clear sight of the enemy base camp below. With every ounce of strength she had left, she pushed through to the very top of the hill.

Immediately, when she got to the top, she laid Bucky down. Her body was still vibrating with energy that was sucking away her life, and Bucky had no more than minutes. Inhaling deeply, she placed her hands on Bucky's chest and began to will as much of her strength as she could to the dying man.

She pushed as much as herself and the energy of The Stone into Bucky, using it as the last lifeline to save him. She needed him to survive. It was Bucky.

It was good ol' Bucky.

Essie gasped for air, her gaze losing focus, and her body growing weaker. The blue lines on her suit began to fade away, and her electric hue in her eyes melted away into her normal tone. Blood seeped from her nose, ears, and mouth from the pressure on her brain to do the job. Her lids grew heavy, and before Essie could tell if Bucky was okay, she collapsed into blackness.

* * *

_It is to be made._

_The perfect soldier. _

_A soldier without fear. _

_Without lust. _

_Without opinion._

_Without reason beyond death._

_A super soldier. _

_A soldier to kill the girl with blue eyes._

_A soldier to serve HYRDA now._

_A soldier to serve HYDRA forever._

_HAIL HYDRA._

* * *

Bucky awoke with a start. He faintly saw the sun's ray's peaking into his eyelids, and his vision focused on a sky just getting its start to the day. The ground was nice, and slightly wet from dew. It smelled nice. It smelled clear and full of fresh air. He felt amazing. He felt like he woke up on a feather bed, surrounded in the fluffiest, coldest blanket that his body craved and curled into. He felt clear of mind, and his lips curved up into a smile. If this was heaven, he would stay here. He would never leave.

But, the happiness was short lived when realization set in. Bucky immediately shot upwards, noticing that he wasn't where he was a supposed to be. He was supposed to be with the Howling Commandos. He was supposed to be… But he wasn't.

There was someone that attacked him. Bucky's brows furrowed as his hand fell to his chin, feeling dried blood. Didn't he bite his tongue practically off? He stuck it out, noticing it felt completely normal. And… wasn't he stabbed in the gut?

Bucky instantly raised his shirt to reveal that there was just again, dried blood, but no wound. There was nothing there and he could've sworn he was hit. Why was he at the rendezvous point already? It was just starting for the sun to rise…

And then, he noticed her. Laying very still beside him was her. Agent S. Her chest was slowly rising upwards, labored. Dried blood decorated her from her ears, mouth, and noise. Why was she bleeding from… her ears and nose— Unless she was hit in the face but there was no sign of bruising. Also, why was she asleep when he was asleep? It seemed unlike her to be so off guard and careless.

Bucky moved over to her, gazing down. She looked so… normal. She looked like an average girl sleeping, dreaming. Did she dream? Could someone who did such horrible things dream of nice things? Did she dream about dancing? Did she dream about her family?

He wondered what it was like for her with her family, with friends, with people… When did she realize she was strong? When did she realize she was not Essie, but Agent S?

…What was her real name?

Bucky's vision swept over her sleeping face, noticing how pale her cheeks were and how long her lashes were against her face. He noticed how smooth her skin looked, and how the flesh wasn't marred with scars. Bucky frowned at the blood on her face, and couldn't help but gently use his sleeve to rub away the hardened red flecks against her upper lip. His other hand came up to rest against her cheek, steading her face as he pushed away most of dried blood. The red coloring was still there, but at least she looked a bit more like herself by the time he finished.

He noticed how cold her face was, and then, realized that her entire temperature was like ice. His fingers trailed down her neck, pushing away the collar of the jumpsuit to rest on her pulse. It was the slowest, lagging pulse he had ever felt. It was like she was dead.

"Essie?" Bucky said aloud, letting his hand once more find her cheek. He cupped it so carefully as he leaned over her form. His other hand reached up to brush brown strands of hair away from her face. She looked… beautiful. But beauty kills.

Within seconds, before Bucky could blink, he felt a cold blade pressed to his neck and a grip tightly twisting his hand away. His eyes were wide, meeting the gaze of a very awake, and very… frightened Essie. Her expression was wild, and her breathing was deep and quick. It was as if she just woke up from a nightmare and was extremely alert.

For a moment, Essie was about to kill him, and the next, he felt the pressure of the blade being lifted from his neck, and his hand released.

"God damnit Bucky!" Essie hissed, sheathing her blade into her waistband as she turned away from him, now sitting on the hill with one knee up as an arm rest. She folded her arms on her knee, and then her forehead to her arms. She was breathing deeply, and Bucky noticed her back rising and falling much more rapidly than before.

He grabbed his wrist, giving it a slight rub from her hold, before informing,"You weren't really breathing."

Essie did not answer.

He heard her panting, but couldn't see it from her long hair shielding her face. He watched her curiously, and wondering what the hell was going through her mind.

They sat like that for a while. Bucky looking out over the trees and to the camp that was about to implode at any moment. The Howling Commandos should be on their way to where he was now, and the Allies in the surrounding forrest. At any moment, the battle would begin.

He looked to Agent S, who now too, was looking over the forest. Her knees had dropped out straight, and she leaned back onto her arms. One hand came up to her waist as she pulled out a familiar silver blade, handing it to the soldier,"You dropped this before."

Bucky frowned, extending his arm out to grasp the knife that she had given him. How did she find this? He dropped it when he tried attacking the patrol. Holding the silver in his palm, staring at it, he realized what had happened.

"You saved me."

Essie didn't smile. She just watched him carefully, letting the breeze whip around her brown locks. And ever so slightly, she nodded her head. Bucky gripped the knife tightly,"Thank you."

The woman simply responded,"I wasn't going to let you die."

"You could've."

"I wouldn't have."

"Why?" Bucky spoke lowly, putting the blade away into his waist pocket.

Essie inhaled deeply,"You're an innocent man who I brought on this mission. I wasn't going to—"

"No, Essie," Bucky interrupted, knowing very well that was what any _leader _would say. No man left behind. No one dying on their commander's watch. Everyone lives.

Her watched her lips part ever so slightly as her breathing finally slowed. Bucky bitterly laughed,"I'm just another body for the US army. I'm nothing important to the finality of the war, nor will I ever matter in the future. I'm just a guy and you _saved me_."

Bucky found his body closer to her. He noticed a slight glaze in her eyes, as if there were a layer of wetness, but perhaps it was simply a reflection.

"You saved me before," Essie lightly replied, giving him a playful punch to the arm,"Give yourself credit."

But her wrist was grasped gently by the hand of Bucky before she could pull away. She felt through her suit a warm heat of his grip on hers. Normally, this would end badly for whomever was holding her, but instead, she simply watched the hold and then, found Bucky's gaze.

He was staring at her with everything she could imagine. She felt empathy and hope in his eyes. She felt compassion, lust, generosity. She felt… forgiveness.

There was nothing in her eyes when you looked at her, and yet she saw the whole world in his.

Her cold heart beat just a bit faster, as if it decided to turn on the old wheels of who she once was. She frowned, and felt for once weakened by someone's stare. It was like he was seeing so deep into her, and her cheeks began to heat up in a way she hadn't ever experienced. It was like he was setting little flames in her cheeks, like fire to a sensation that tingled throughout her chest. She found her breathing deeper, and his gaze so powerful.

He had so much life in him. He radiated promise, and she was anything but. Essie turned her cheek, finding that she was melting under his gaze. A hand found her chin, and turned her jaw once more to look back.

Essie washed over his face, smeared very lightly with the remains of black paint from the night. She embedded the expression of lightness into her mind, imprinting a memory she might never have again from Bucky Barnes.

"I've done terrible things," she whispered.

"Not to me," Bucky easily responded, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I will," Essie faintly spoke,"I kill everyone I touch."

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head as his thumb ran over her cheek,"I'm going to prove you wrong."

"You won't."

Essie searched him for any doubt in his eyes, and found none. Why was he so certain? She felt his breath tickling her lips as he whispered,"Watch me."

Bucky leaned forward, allowing his lips to gently brush against hers with a coaxing motion that pulled her into him. He didn't feel her respond immediately, but surely enough he felt how soft her lips were against him. Her mouth molded to his after realizing what was happening, and Essie began leaning in, letting herself relish in the smoothness of his mouth. Essie's hand pressed against his toned chest, trailing upwards to the base of his neck. Without even realizing it, the same hand began to wind into his short hair at the base of his neck, needing him closer to her.

His hand pulled at her waist, tightening his grip and feeling the toned muscles hidden beneath her noir layer of her clothing. He felt the smallness of her waist, the strength of her back… The sensation of her touching him so gently when he knew it was foreign to her made his insides tingle.

_She was letting him in. _

A soldier. A man and nothing more. She saved him and brought him into her world. She was getting warmer the more his lips captured hers, letting his tongue gently trail along her lip before sweetly biting it. He heard the lightest gasp escape from Essie's throat and he craved to make it happen once more.

Bucky smiled against her lips as he swept across her mouth again, his hand reaching up and tangling into her hair. He kept his hold on her waist, pulling her more into his lap as she continuously relishing in the taste of him.

He was the sweetest thing, and Essie felt herself herself falling into his touch. She had never been… held in the way Bucky was holding her. She had only been intimate as a means to get something, and it was empty. But now? Her body was burning with a powerful, trembling sensation that had her gasping for air.

Essie could feel herself seizing under the pure ecstasy of his mouth, and she almost couldn't take it. No one should ever kiss her.

But he did.

Essie gasped against him, pulling away only a few inches to stare up into him as they both attempting to catch their breath. She was entranced in his beautiful, sparkling blue eyes where every flick of light glittered in the rising sun's rays. It was like he saw her. It was like Bucky saw _into_ her.

Bucky would never know what Essie gave up to save him that night. With all her reserved energy, Essie gave up every bit of strength she would have to return to the future anytime soon. She didn't know why she saved him… Maybe it was to make up for all the things she had done wrong. Maybe, it was because she wanted to prove to herself that she wasn't all bad. Or maybe, she saved Bucky Barnes because she just wanted to.

* * *

**I think this might be my favorite chapter yet! It's so fluffy and good. Please review, favorite, and follow for me!**


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